


Kairos

by Mokyo



Series: The Most Beautiful Moment In Life [1]
Category: Fate/EXTRA, Fate/Grand Order, Fate/Prototype: Fragments of Sky Silver
Genre: Action/Adventure, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Drama, F/M, Romance
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-06-06
Updated: 2020-03-08
Packaged: 2020-04-11 12:49:47
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 10
Words: 37,241
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19110010
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Mokyo/pseuds/Mokyo
Summary: Merged worlds. A beautiful knight. Mixed feelings, and mixed pasts. Powerful mages, with even more powerful servants seek to end Hakuno, and all that she stands for."Trust me, Hakuno. I will never betray you." The knight and his sickeningly sweet smile promises.Anger radiates from the demi-god king, "You betrayed me. I'll never forgive you!"





	1. Bad Side of Town

Brown eyes drift over to an outstretched hand, bright red marks shine brightly in this dark night. A normal person would mistake the markings on her friends’ hand, for tattoos but no, those marks are command seals. The mark of a Master.

Something that she hasn’t been in a long time.

“It’s warm.” The Brunette complains.

“But it’s nice being off of that mountain, right Hakuno?” The female Master smiles widely.

“That’s true…” Hakuno eyes return to the stars above her head. “I like being able to see the stars clearly. It’s hard to do that with snow blowing around. Even if it is starting to melt…”

The observatory on the mountain, Chaldea. Better known as Chaldea Security Organization. An Organization that recruits all of the best magi, and scientists from all over the world with one purpose, “to preserve the reign of the Human Order, above all else.”   

The Grand Order.

“Gudako, shouldn’t we be heading back soon?”

“It’s fine,” Gudako assures the older mage. “We have permission from Da Vinci-chan after all, and besides, the doctor left us his car!” That smile Gudako was wearing, quickly fades into a small frown.

Hakuno’s eyes dart to Gudako, upon noticing the change of tone in her voice. Damn, she didn’t mean to make her friend upset.

“I didn’t mean-“

“No, it’s fine!” That smile returning, as quickly as it disappeared. “We should probably get back to our hotel rooms. I don’t want the money you used on them, to go to waste. We already booked them for the night anyways.”

That statement causes Hakuno to frown. While it’s true she does earn money from doing odd jobs in Chaldea, mostly fixing computers, or cleaning. The money that was used for this particular outing, was given to her, by a certain golden king. One who damn near threw a fit, when she told him that herself, and Gudako was planning this day trip.

_“You know, servants aren’t allowed to leave Chaldea unless it’s to rayshift, or to go to the training grounds.” Hakuno brings a hand to her face. This is at least, the fourth time she’s explained this to this man, in the last half hour._

_“I’ve went to that town, with you and that mongrel before.”_

_“You blackmailed Gudako. That doesn’t count!” Hakuno argues, crossing her arms._

_“I did no such thing!” The blond-haired king, equally annoyed stands up from his bed._

_“Gilgamesh, you threatened to tell Romani if we didn’t take you with us! That qualifies as blackmail.”_

_“I’m going with you.” Gilgamesh tells his former Master, as if there is no room to argue with him._

_“No, you’re not.” Hakuno retorts, gods why is he so stubborn?! “I’m going with Gudako-“  
Hakuno notices that the arrogant Archer is opening his mouth, no doubt to say something smart, or argue with her. “Alone.” _

_“You are being insolent.” He warns, those red eyes glaring at her._

_“I’m trying to be a good friend.” Hakuno retorts, glaring right back at him. Two can play this game. “Romani just died-“_

_That earned a scoff. “That man was doing nothing more, than pretending to be something that he wasn’t. Unable to deal with the hand that he was given, he ran away. Choosing to be a normal human.”_

_Okay, time to stop this before he keeps going and says something that makes even her upset.  Now that she thinks about it, this man’s older calmer version, a Caster said something along those lines. She still isn’t sure if he was talking about, Romani, or the demon Goetia._

_“Regardless of your feelings, about the doctor. Gudako is my friend. She’s upset, I want to help.”_

_“You are still recovering from that little journey in my homeland.”_

_“It’s literally right down the mountain. It’s not like I’m leaving the country.”_

_“I’m all the company you need.” Gilgamesh argues, his body moving closer to hers._

_Oh no, she’s not doing this song and dance today! Quickly moving her body to the side, she mutters, “I’m going to help my friend. You would do the same for Enkidu, right?”_

_That causes the Archer to stop in his tracks, Hakuno sucks in a breath. Maybe she said something she shouldn’t have…?_

_Suddenly, a small gate opens near Gilgamesh’s arm. A small bag falls from it._

_“Do you have the funds to even support this journey?”_

_“I have money saved.”_

_A snort. “I’ve seen your funds woman. That is mere change to me.”_

_Hakuno is slightly insulted. She worked hard for that money! Does this dick even know, how many computers she had to remove viruses from, just to even make that amount of money?!_

_“I’ll have you know-“ Hakuno is cut off by the small bag being shoved in her direction._

_“Use this instead.”_

_“I don’t need your money.”_

_“Take it.” Gilgamesh hisses. “You may return what you don’t spend to me.”_

_Oh, is he finally coming around to the idea of her helping Gudako?_

_“I won’t spend much of it.” Hakuno promises._

_The golden king shrugs. “That meager amount of money, is just a drop in my treasury. I won’t notice if it goes missing.”_

_So, does he want her to return the money when she returns or not? Damn this man for being confusing._

_“Right.” Hakuno mummers. “Thank you.”_

_Gilgamesh waves his hand dismissively. “You may repay me, by giving me your undivided attention. Or better yet, you could steal me away from Gudako.”_

_Yeah, not happening._

“Hakuno, do you ever miss being a Master?” Gudako asks suddenly, as Hakuno locks the hotel room door.

Hakuno takes a quick look around. For the money she paid, the room is decent enough. Wooden interior reminds her of the log cabins she’s seen in books, and movies. Two large beds. Good enough for one night.

“Honestly? Not really.” Hakuno confesses. “I get enough adventure, by hanging out with you!”

Gudako falls back onto the bed she chose for the night. “How did you figure out what you wanted to do, after you lost your command seals? How did you deal with it I mean?”

Shit, she’s really asking tough questions tonight….

“I’m still dealing with it.” Hakuno admits, sliding out of her shoes, finding her way to her own bed. “I suppose losing Gilgamesh, Tamamo, Nero, and Nameless has caused me to stand on my own two feet, forcefully.”

“I see.” Gudako yawns. “I could give Gilgamesh to you, that offer still stands. There’s a lot of servants in Chaldea. Losing one even if it is the King of Heroes, wouldn’t be a huge blow. People like and trust you in Chaldea. It wouldn’t be much of an issue.”

“Ah, I won’t steal from you.” Hakuno replies closing those brown eyes. “If this is about the doctor-“

“It isn’t.” Gudako rolls over. “I don’t want you to end up alone. You need a companion. I have Mash after all of this over, and I go back to Japan, I would like to take Mash with me. What about you? What are your plans? Are you going back to the Moon Cell? It’s just my thoughts but, I think you look much happier here, than you did on the Moon Cell.”

So many questions….

“I’m not sure. I think going back to Japan with you, would be fun. I could maybe try university. I think one of the magi said that programming would be a good fit for me as a day job…”

“You could keep studying magic.”

“I’m not sure about that.”

“Gilgamesh thinks you’re a strong mage. Caster, I mean.”

“He’s just after my mana.”

“That’s not true.” Gudako sits up for a moment. “You haven’t talked much though, since he was summoned.”

“Caster barely remembers anything about the Singularity.”  Hakuno reminds Gudako, “I can’t really blame him for that, since I have problems with my memories too but…”

“Caster would act offended if he heard you, talking like that!” Gudako teases.

There’s not a doubt in Hakuno’s mind about that. He would call her insolent, just as Archer did this morning.

That’s neither here nor there, however.

“If you ever want to talk about anything Gudako, just know that I’m here. You can even wake me up in the middle of the night!”

“Mm. The same goes to you, Hakuno. I had a fun time today!”

“Me too.”

“Let’s get some sleep. We can explore more of this town, in the morning.” Gudako reaches over and turns off the lamp illuminating the room.

That sounds like a plan.

Hakuno groans annoyed. Loud noises. It sounds like someone’s been moving furniture for the past few hours.  Maybe she should get up, and go complain….

“Gudako!” Hakuno whispers, in an attempt to wake up her friend.

Nothing. In fact, the only Master in Chaldea turned her back to her.

How the hell can she sleep through this?! Here she thought, Gilgamesh slept like a rock…

Sliding out of bed, feeling around for a moment to find her hoodie, wrapping it around her body, she quietly moves the room.

Another loud bang. That sounded like a gun going off. What in the hell is happening?! Sliding on her shoes, Hakuno takes a deep breath her right hand grabbing onto the door handle before turning it, and opening the door.

Stepping out, Hakuno immediately notices something different. The hallway for one. What was once, just a plain hallway with white paint, and beige carpet is now filled with gold chandeliers, and carpets that look like fur.

It’s as if their three-star hotel, was upgraded to a five star in just a few hours.

Impossible. Rubbing her eyes, feeling much more awake, Hakuno notices just how hard it is to breathe.

There’s no pollution in the air. At least, none that she is aware of. She knows this sensation. She felt this exact feeling, back in Babylon when she didn’t have any protection from the harshness of the source of this uneasiness.

Mana. The mana is so dense, you could cut it with a knife.

How is Gudako not feeling this?!

Hakuno brings her hoodie sleeve to her mouth. What’s going on here? The mana was nowhere near like this, when they entered here last night.

Then again, this whole situation is a bit weird. Weird being an understatement.

Laughing. She can hear laughing from what sounds like a few floors down.

Maybe whoever that is can tell her what is exactly is going on here! Running, she finds her lungs burning. This mana is much more potent than in Babylon.

Down some stairs. Her eyes catch a glimpse of the source of the laughter, deep and loud.

Spikey brown hair, a white cape…..a yellow and blue crook. This person is a servant then, and if she’s not mistaken, she knows this particular servant.

What was his true name? He’s a rider she’s sure of that. Oz..Ozy…Ozymandias?

Doesn’t hurt to try. What is a servant doing here in the first place?!

Hakuno’s heart rate quickens, as another figure comes into view just as she opened her mouth.

Blond hair. Two golden swords. A look that she knows all too well.

“Is that all you have Pharaoh?!” an equally deep voice taunts.

Oh no. She knows that voice too.

Gilgamesh. Why in the hell did he follow her here?! And more importantly why is he going at it with the Egyptian Pharaoh?!

Standing up, Hakuno again opens her mouth, only for it to be covered by a cold, gloved hand.

“I’m afraid that isn’t your best course of action.” The voice, soft almost sickeningly sweet warns.

Hakuno tilts her head upwards, to meet the hands owner. Again, blond hair. His eyes though…green as the brightest emeralds, he’s smiling at her as well.

Pretty. This person is pretty.

“You’re a mage right?” The male gives her body a quick look. “No….this can’t be right..” He mummers.

Huh? “Listen-“

“Let’s move to a safer area.” The man doesn’t give Hakuno a chance to respond before grabbing her hand, and dragging her with him.

What is his deal?!

They run for what feels like forever, before finally stopping a few floors up.

“My friend-“

“Is in another room, on the upper floor. I know.”

How does he know that?!

“I don’t know who you are…” Hakuno begins.

“You may call me Saber.” The blond gives Hakuno another smile.

Saber? So, he’s a servant too?!

“Right. Saber. I’m Hakuno.”

“Nice to meet you.”

Now isn’t the time for pleasantries, honestly this man reminds her of Gawain, and Lancelot so much it’s scary.

“Do you know what’s going on here?! Why is that rider, fighting that Archer?”

“You know those servants?”

“Somewhat.”

“I see…” The man mumbles, pausing for a moment. “I’m not sure exactly where you and your friend come from Hakuno, but it seems your world and mine have been merged together in a sense.”

“W-What?!”  No, no no. This can’t be happening! They’ve repaired all the Singularities! How is another one forming?! And right near Chaldea no less!

She’s got to find Gudako. They need to find a way to get ahold of Da Vinci. Stat.

“Hakuno.” Saber breaks Hakuno from her panic for a moment. “Shall we find your friend? We can discuss the details of where you come from in more detail, once we find you and your friend a safe place. As you saw, those servants intend to tear this whole place apart. I would rather not have them sense me here.”

Another loud crash followed by laughing.

Hakuno resists the urge to sigh. She’s going to have a long talk with Gudako, about her pharaoh. Meeting Saber’s green eyes. At least this servant doesn’t seem like he wants to hurt her, or Gudako. The same can’t be said for Gilgamesh, and Ozymandias.

Saber holds out a hand. “Let’s go Hakuno.”

Hakuno nods before taking the servants hand. For now, they need to find Gudako.


	2. Taking The First Step

Running.

So much running. She never wants to see another set of stairs again in her life.

“We’re almost there Hakuno.” Saber says, looking back for a moment. “Just point to the room, you were both staying in.”

Hakuno nods her head. Simple enough, she can do that.

Saber squeezes Hakuno’s hand a bit harder, taking a sharp right down the hall.

“So,” Hakuno begins, through small pants, “What is all of this?! What’s going on?”

“I will explain once we find a safe place away from here.” Saber promises, slowing down as they approach a white door.

Hakuno nods her head. Right. They need to get Gudako out of here.

“T-This is the room we were in.” Hakuno tells the Saber, who nods his head.

Saber attempts to turn the doorknob. Only to quickly realize that it’s locked.

“I will have to kick the door down…” Saber mutters, “Please, stand back Hakuno.”

He doesn’t have to tell her twice. She learned her lesson about standing too close to a servant, when they’re attempting to kick down a door back on the Moon Cell.

She won’t make that same mistake twice.

An extremely loud bang causes Hakuno to screw her eyes shut.

“Damn.” Saber gently grabs ahold of Hakunos hand. “I do not mean to rush you, but we must hurry and get out of here. As you can hear, those two are destroying this place.”

Hakuno slowly opens her eyes, meeting those bright green eyes of Saber. If she’s being honest with herself, his eyes are quite pretty.

Hakuno shakes her head. Now isn’t the time to think about that!

Instead she runs into what once was her hotel room, only to find her friend, and fellow Master, Gudako, backed against a wall and holding…..a lamp?

“Jesus, Hakuno!” Gudako breathes out a sigh of relief. “You scared the hell outta me!”

“Gudako!” Hakuno returns the halfway greeting. “I’m glad that you’re safe!”

“I heard loud crashing! It sounded like gun shots.” Gudako explains, still holding the lamp base. “I woke up and you were gone! I was so worried, I tried to go out into the hallway, but the door was locked from the outside!”

“Hakuno!” Saber calls out, a signal that they have no more time to stall.

Gudako peers out into the hallway, “Who’s that?”

“I don’t know his true name, but his class name is Saber.”

“Saber?!” Gudako exclaims, “Servants aren’t supposed to leave Chaldea!”

“I know! Listen, I-I’m not sure exactly what’s going on here, but Saber seems to. I think we can trust him, until we can get into contact with someone from Chaldea.”

Gudako pauses for a moment. So, this servant isn’t contracted to herself, that much she can ascertain from Hakuno’s tone.

If Hakuno believe that she can trust him then…

“…Alright.” Gudako grips the lamp base tighter. “I can’t contact any servants from Chaldea anyways.” Gudako takes a few steps toward the doorway. “But I’m taking this with me.”

Hakuno shakes her head, wishing that she had the same energy as Gudako, before following her friend out into the hallway.

“Nice to meet you.” Saber greets Gudako, bowing slightly. “You may call me Saber.”

“My name is Gudako.” Gudako shifts her eyes to Hakuno, “You helped my friend, I’ll have to thank you later.”

Another crash, followed by an all too familiar laugh.

“We’ll have to save the rest of our introductions for later it seems.” Arthur looks around, before grabbing onto Hakunos hand once more.

“W-Wait!” Gudako calls out, latching herself onto Hakunos free hand. “I know that laugh anywhere! That’s Ozymandias! He’s my servant! Hakuno, you’ve met him!”

“I can assure you, that the Ozymandias you know, and the one you’re hearing aren’t the same person.” Saber mummers.

“WHAT?!” Before Gudako has any chance to argue with the Saber, she finds herself being pulled along.

“WHY CAN’T WE EVER CATCH A BREAK?!” Gudako yells out, trying and failing to stay focused on running.

“Where are you taking us, Saber?” Hakuno asks.

“I have an apartment not far from here. Rider and Archer will not look for us there.”

That sounds like about as good of a plan as anything she could come up with right now.

“How can a servant own an apart-“ Gudako squeezes Hakunos hand tighter, as another loud crash can be heard, this time much closer to their vicinity.

Saber makes a sharp right, down some stairs, until he finds a window.

“We’re going to have to jump.”

“Excuse me?!” Gudako, looks up at the servant, her eyes wide. “You can’t be serious. Did Hakuno hit you with one of these things?!” Motioning at the lamp base.

Hakuno lets go of Saber’s hand, biting her lip for a moment. “I’m going to have to agree with Gudako. I don’t know of any spells that can break our fall.”

“A-And there’s no haystacks, like in that video game that I see Enkidu play!” Gudako chimes in.

“I will hold you both.” Saber promises, sticking his head out of the window for a second.

“Um. No. No way in hell.” Gudako says, “I’m still having nightmares from when Ishtar dropped me, from all the way up in air!”

“I understand your concerns.” Saber begins, “But we are out of options here. Rider and Archer, are heading this way. We are out of room to run.”

“Dammit!” Gudako hisses. “Hakuno, what do you think?”

Hakuno looks up at Saber, who meets her brown eyes.

“Please, I know we’ve just met, but trust me. I would never allow anything bad to happen to either of you.”

Loud footsteps can be heard heading up the stairs.

“I-I trust Saber.” Hakuno nods her head. “Let’s hurry up and get out of here.”

Gudako throws the lamp base onto the ground. “I still feel like this is a bad idea, but how are we gonna do this?”

Saber ponders for a moment before, bending down. “Gudako, you will have to get onto my back, while I hold Hakuno in my arms.”

“Uhhhh.” Now Gudako is the one peering out of the window. “S-So you just want me to hold onto you?”

“Yes.”

“It’s been fun while it lasted guys.” Gudako mumbles heading over to Saber, grunting a bit as she climbs onto his back.

“Thank you.” Saber whispers, “Now, Hakuno, I’m going to pick you up now.”

Hakuno can’t deny the butterflies in her stomach as she feels her body being lifted up, her head resting against the Saber’s chest.

Honestly, she’s just as nervous as Gudako is. She can’t really blame her friend, for being skeptical of the new servant.

Saber fully opens the window, sticking his head out once more. “On the count of three I’m going to jump, okay? Gudako, I’m going to need you to hold onto me, as tightly as you can.”

“You don’t have to tell me twice!”

“Ready?” Saber asks, to which both girls nod their heads. “One….” Hakuno takes a deep breath, don’t look down….

“Two….” 

“Saber, are you sure this is safe?” Gudako questions.

“Three.” Saber leaps off the edge of the windowsill.

“AHHHHHH!!!” Gudako yells out, while Hakuno closes her eyes.

Hakuno buries her head in Saber’s chest, refusing to open her eyes, until she feels Saber touch the ground.

“THIS IS HOW I DIE!!” Gudako continues to yell, gripping Saber’s shoulders as hard as she can.

“Almost there!” Saber exclaims, holding Hakuno closer to him.

Gudako joins Hakuno in closing her eyes, at least she won’t see her body meeting the concrete sidewalk.

Instead, both female mages are pleasantly surprised, when they hear Sabers boots hit the sidewalk gently.

Blinking, Hakuno opens her eyes. Pleasantly surprised to see, that she is indeed not dead yet.

“Thank gods.” Gudako exhales, as Saber bends down a bit so Gudako can hop off of his back.

“But!’” Gudako exclaims, bringing a hand up to her chest. “I never wanna do that again!”

Hakuno silently agrees with Gudako, mummering a small “Thank you,” to Saber, as he carefully sits her down on the ground.

“I am just happy that you both are, okay.”

“Barely!” Gudako, “But thank you. I shouldn’t have doubted you. Servants truly are stronger than normal humans.”

Hakuno takes a good look at her surroundings. Large skyscrapers, bright lights.

Not at all the small mountain town, that she was in just a few hours ago.

“Gudako…” Hakuno calls to her friend, “Y-You see this too, right?”

Gudako tilts her head to the side, before looking around the area.

“This isn’t the village! What in the hell?!”

“Tokyo.” Saber breaks his silence. “We’re in Tokyo, Japan.”

Gudako’s eyes widen. “Now hold on a minute, we were just in the mountains, nowhere near Japan!”

“Your world and mine seemed to have collided with each other.” Arthur explains, beginning to lead the way, to his apartment.

“I’m not sure of the details myself, but I believe that yourself, and Hakuno are the keys to figuring out this mess.”

Hakuno gives Hakuno a glance, before they utter in unison.

“Singularity.”

As they follow Saber throughout the small district of Tokyo, which Gudako managed to figure out is Shibuya, judging by the crosswalk.

“Once we get to Sabers apartment, we need to try to get in touch with Da Vinci.” Gudako mutters to Hakuno, as the trio climb up a flight of stairs.

“Right.” Hakuno nods her head in agreement, surly by now, the team at Chaldea would be bound to notice their disappearance.

…..At least she hopes so.

“You’re going to contact your friends?” Saber asks, looking back at Hakuno who nods their head.

“That’s a good plan. It’s nice to have friends you can trust.”

“Speaking of having friends…” Gudako looks out at the city, as Arthur digs through his pockets, “What is your true name? You know our names, so it’s only fair that we know yours too.”

Saber gives Gudako an apologetic smile, before finding the object he was looking for, a small cardkey.

“I must apologize. Only my Master can be allowed to know my true name, if they feel comfortable enough with you, then I would not have any problems telling you my true name, Gudako.”

“Then who is your Master?” Hakuno asks, as she watches Saber insert the keycard, in his door.

“Ah,” Saber opens the door, inviting both female mages inside, “You’ll find out soon enough. I promise.”

Gudako shrugs, no point in arguing with the servant. At least he’s helping them.

Gudako heads inside of the apartment, leaving Hakuno alone with the blond Saber.

“Are you alright?” Saber questions, his eyes scanning her body.

“I’m fine.” Hakuno responds, feeling heat rise to her cheeks underneath that gaze of his. “Thank you for helping us. I’m not sure if your Master will be happy with you, though.”

“You let me worry about that, Hakuno.” Saber smiles down at Hakuno, “Now come inside, it’s getting quite cold out here.”

Hakuno swallows, nodding her head, as she follows Saber inside, closing the door behind her.

The brunette looks around the apartment, it’s actually quite nice. Two couches, a T.V and a large kitchen.

Hakuno joins Gudako at the couch, as Saber excuses himself for a moment, to change clothes.

“I’m going to try to contact Chaldea.” Gudako digs through her pockets, pulling out a small cell phone.

“I hope we can get into contact with _someone._ ”

“You and me both.” Gudako presses send on the cell phone, putting the call on speaker phone.

The phone rings a few times.

“Come on…” Gudako hisses, obviously getting increasingly annoyed.

“Gudako?” A monotone male voice picks up the phone.

“SHERLOCK!” Gudako yells, “I’m so glad you picked up!”

“You have a lot of explaining to do,” Sherlock yawns, “You and the moon girl next to you.”

Gudako frowns. “I didn’t ask for you to be a smart-“

“Anyways, it would seem that you both have been drug into a newly formed singularity hm?”

“That would seem to be the case, Mr. Holmes.” Hakuno chimes in, as Gudako brings a hand to her face.

“Ah, so the moon girl is indeed there with you. Good, Good.” Hakuno can almost picture the private investigator, nodding his head, in smug satisfaction.

“I suppose I will give you both the rundown on where exactly you are, and what myself and Da Vinci has managed to uncover, in your absence.”

“Where’s Da Vinci?” Gudako asks.

“Asleep. Resting. She’s been up for the past two days trying to locate you two.” Sherlock hisses.

Two days?! They’ve been missing for two days?!

“I see..” Gudako mummers. She’ll have to apologize to Da Vinci, when she returns. She was probably worried for them both.

“Now, as I was saying, it would appear that you both have been transported to the year 1999, and you are in Tokyo, Japan.” Sherlock starts, “According to our data, there was a Holy Grail War in that year as well. I highly suspect you have been summoned there, by the grail to compete.”

“W-WHAT?!” Gudako yells.

“There is only data for eleven Masters. Their names are crossed out but…” Sherlock takes a hit of his pipe, before continuing. “Fifteen Masters, participated in this Holy Grail War.”

Both Gudakos and Hakunos eyes widen, at that information.

“That would mean…” Hakuno starts before being cut off by the Ruler.

“You are correct, moon girl. That means there is a Ruler somewhere in Tokyo.” Sherlock laughs, “Why they are not intervening is a mystery to me.”

….He’s having way too much fun with this.

“Your friend is right.” Saber’s voice whispers to Hakuno. “There is a total of fifteen Masters, in this city.”

Hakuno looks up at Saber, noticing his new clothing. A simple red shirt, with black pants, and a black jacket.

It suits him.

“I hear another voice.” Sherlock comments, “Is this the servant that has been helping you both?”

“Yes, this is Saber.” Gudako tells Sherlock, “Saber, this is Sherlock, he’s a Ruler servant.”

“True name?” Sherlock asks.

“I can’t say.” Saber simply replies, “But it is nice to meet you, Ruler.”

“You are lucky that there is something preventing us from seeing our two mages.” Sherlock tells Saber honestly, “Otherwise I could deduce who you are, with one look.”

“I’m quite aware of how the Ruler class works, Sherlock.” Saber replies.

“In any case, you both need to summon a servant.” Sherlock returns to his original conversation. “Gudako, I would advise you to summon more than one servant.”

Wait, both of them? She couldn’t have heard that right.

“Mr. Holmes, I believe when I was summoned to Chaldea, I told Romani that I didn’t want to be a Master.”

“Unfortunately for you, moon girl, you don’t have a choice in the matter.” Sherlock hisses, annoyance present in his voice. “The grail has chosen you both to participate. Like it or not, you must summon. You won grail wars before; you will be fine.”

Hakuno frowns. This cannot be happening.

“You both cannot summon at the same time however, which is why I believe Gudako should summon tonight, and Hakuno should summon in the morning.”

Gudako gives Hakuno an apologetic look, mouthing “I’m sorry,” before replying to Sherlock.

“That sounds good.”

“Excellent. If I may offer a suggestion, summon the Uruk king. I cannot bear to deal with him for a moment longer.”

That statement causes Saber to raise an eyebrow. There’s no way he heard that right, did he?

Gudako giggles a bit. “I was going to summon him anyways, I think Hakuno wants to see him.”

“Now, I must remind you both, that Chaldea can only provide you both with audio support until we can figure out what’s blocking our signal. So please, use your heads. Do not do anything reckless. I will be sending clothes with Abigail, I do not trust the Uruk king not to discard them, the moment I hand the fabric to him.”

With that an audible click can be heard.

“He hung up on me!” Gudako complains, standing up. “I’m sorry Saber, but I need to set up a summoning circle. Do you mind?”

Saber shakes his head. “No, not at all.”

Hakuno sighs loudly, feeling fatigue hit her body.

“If you would like Hakuno, you can take a bath while your friend summons her servants.”

Gudako begins pouring her mana onto the empty floor, slowly making a summoning circle.

“I think that’s a good idea, Hakuno.” Gudako smiles, “Abby is bringing clothes, and you look tired.”

Honestly a bath does sound good…

“But Gil..”

“Can live without you for a few minutes, I’m about to summon him now.” Gudako stands up, placing two quartz in the middle.

“Gudako is correct, your health is more important, than your servant friends.” Saber tells Hakuno honestly, showing her the way to the bathroom.

“I won’t be long. U-Um have Abby or Gudako, bring me my clothes to me, please.”

“Of course!” Saber touches Hakunos cheek gently. “You don’t have to ask.”

Heat foods her cheeks once more. “T-Thank you!” Quickly shutting the bathroom door behind her, as she hears a familiar voice.

“Where is Hakuno, woman?!”

Gilgamesh. Her former servant.

“Taking a bath!” Gudako can be heard yelling back, “She’s tired! You’ll see her in a few minutes!”

“I do not have time to play with you mongrel, I am going to see her.”

“No, you are not.” Saber stands in front of Gudako, shielding her from Gilgamesh.

Hakuno sighs again, maybe she should go back outside….

No, she’s tired and sweaty. Gudako can deal with Gilgamesh for a few minutes, it’ll be fine.

Slowly stripping herself of her clothing, she can hear the argument between Gilgamesh, and Saber.

“You must be the servant; the Ruler was talking about.” Gilgamesh says in a mocking tone.

“And You are the tyrant, Hakuno was telling me about.”

“Stop it!” Gudako orders, “The last thing you both need to be doing is arguing.

See? Gudako is handling the situation. Things will be okay; she tells herself as she takes off her shirt looking in the mirror.

Wait…..

What are these red marks on her shoulder, and chest? She moves closer to the mirror, to get a better look.

She touches the marks lightly. They don’t hurt…

They look like wings, a bird’s feathers. She beginnings to count the amount of marks on her body.

One….three…four….six.

Six of these strange markings.

Wait a minute, these can’t be what she thinks she thinks they are can they?

Command seals.

Weirdly shaped command seals.

Panic begins to course through her body.

No, no no. Sherlock was right then, the grail did choose her.

And she’s apparently already summoned a servant. That’s the only explanation for the command seals.

There’s only one thing to do then…

A loud scream can be heard from the bathroom.

“Hakuno?!” Both Saber, and Gilgamesh rush to the source of the scream.

Saber has a bad feeling about this, there could be only reason for that scream.

She found her command spells, which in this world are called by _Master Degrees._

Which means he can finally tell his Master his true name.

Arthur Pendragon. The Once and Future King.

His Master?

Hakuno Kishinami. Former ruler of the Moon Cell.


	3. Take Care of Me In Neo-City

“Can you two at least wait outside, while I look at Hakuno’s command seals?!” Gudako asks, frustration present in her voice as she hangs up, he cell phone once more.

“Move, Ritsuka.” The golden Archer warns, his red eyes glaring down at his contractor.

Gudako frowns, looking back at Hakuno for a moment, “You know, I don’t like being called by my real name.” Gudako glances over the blond knight looking over at Hakuno’s exposed shoulder, and the bright red tattoos that mark her skin.

“And you!” Gudako exclaims, shifting her focus to Saber.  “You stop trying to get a peak, at her too!”

“I am doing no such thing, lady Gudako!”

“….Master is right.” A young girl with bright blue eyes mummers, meeting Sabers eyes. “Mr. Gilgamesh, and Mr. Saber are…hm..what was the word Da Vinci said…? Pervert?” Yes, that was it the small girl believes. “Perverts!  You both are perving on Hakuno!” she declares, pointing at the King of Heroes.

Gilgamesh scowls, glaring at the child, turning his attention back to Gudako. “Get this useless witch of yours, Ritsuka.”

“I’m not a witch!”  Frowning the child runs up to Gudako, grabbing her hand. “If anything, Master, and Hakuno are witches! They’re mages after all!”

Hakuno closes her brown eyes, dammit she feels a headache coming on. There is too much chaos, going on at the moment.

“And I’m not useless either!” The blonde hair girl continues to argue with Gilgamesh. “I’m a special class, a Foreigner! You and Mr. Saber there, have basic classes!”

Gudako sighs, meeting Hakuno eyes. Alright, enough of this back and forth.

“Please,” Hakuno pleas with the blond men. “Just for a moment, I-I want Gudako to take a look at my command seals.”

Gilgamesh red eyes narrow, “So, you are saying you do not trust my opinion?”

“That’s not what she’s saying at all!” Saber counters, turning to face the Archer.

“Oh? So, you speak for her now?” Gilgamesh hisses, meeting Sabers green eyes.

“You are not Hakunos servant.” Saber reminds the Archer, “It seems to me, that you are lady Gudakos servant. Your counseling is not wanted, nor needed here.”

Those ruby eyes glare at the nameless servant. “I am slow to anger; however, you are pushing your luck quite a bit Saber.” Gilgamesh warns. “You, who have only known _my_ Hakuno for only a few hours, you claim to know what is best for her. Hold your place. You who aren’t her servant. You’re the outsider here, in case you have forgotten.”

Saber shrugs. “I know for a fact, that she needs to be kept far away from you, Gilgamesh. You leave a path of ruin, wherever you step foot.”

“And now you claim to know me?!” Gilgamesh grabs Saber by the collar of his shirt, “You remind me of a certain servant…” Anger present in his voice he continues, “At present you are not worth my time, Saber.”

“Unhand me, Gilgamesh.” Saber warns.

“And if I don’t?”

“Please!” Hakuno raises her voice, holding the soft towel to her chest. “Enough! Both of you! I-I just want to figure out what’s wrong with me! I don’t want anyone to fight!”

Silence.

Then an annoyed sigh from the Sumerian king, as he removes his hand from Saber.

“It seems to be your lucky day Saber.”  Gilgamesh gives Saber a smirk, before lazily walking over to the nearby couch, making himself at home.

“…This is uncomfortable Saber. What? Are you too broke to afford comfortable furniture?”

Saber resists the urge to roll his eyes. “Can’t you send him back, lady Gudako? What is the reasoning for keeping him here?”

“Um..” Gudako starts, glancing at Hakuno, “Hakuno and Gilgamesh share a….history together.” Gudako smiles. “Don’t worry, he’ll get used to you Saber! Eventually. He’s just wary of new people around Hakuno.” Gudako explains, with a smile on her face.

Saber and Hakuno exchange a glance, before Saber takes in a deep breath.

Might as well tell both of these girls the truth now.

“I have a confession to make.” Saber whispers, glancing over at the arrogant king, who now has his eyes closed.

…..There’s no way he’s sleeping is he? _Now_ of all times?

Whatever. Makes this easier without Gilgamesh poking his nose, into the conversation he supposes.

“Can it wait?” Hakuno asks softly. Seriously, whatever he has to tell them can wait until after she figures out what the hells these marks on her body are! Are they command spells, or something entirely different?

Saber shakes his head. “I can answer all of your questions about the markings on your body, and any other questions you may have about this city, this grail war, anything at all.”

Both Hakunos and Gudakos eyes widen, as they both hear the last word fall from the Sabers lips.

“….Master.”

* * *

 

The older man looks around at his surroundings for a moment, before returning his gaze to the summoning circle he has went to the trouble of setting up.

He has gone to great lengths to prepare for this war in Japan. He chuckles to himself, truly it was a wise decision for the Mage Association to send a representative from America here.

Though, it was not without its own problems

For one, he had to go through….less than savory measures, in order to obtain his catalyst for his servant.

A lapis lazuli bracelet, said to be worn at all times by the servant, he successfully summoned.

Ramses II.  Also known as Ramses the Great.

The second problem is that the association has declared that outsiders may patriciate in this holy grail war.

Even if the grail hasn’t been seen anywhere in five-hundred years, non-mages should not be allowed to participate in this ritual.

It defeats the purpose of the ritual in his mind. Not any kid off the street, should be allowed to summon a servant without any repercussions.

Which led him to his third and final problem: transporting his private police force to Japan. Half of his police force didn’t even have passports, much less knew how to speak Japanese.

**Clan Calatin**. Also called _The Twenty-Eight Monsters._ He himself picked the name. Named after the monster who fought against the legendary warrior, Cú Chulainn, during a war with Medb in Celtic legends.

The name suited them, he thought to himself as he sits the lapis lazuli bracelet in the middle of the summoning circle.  

After all, Clan Calatin aren’t normal police officers.

Comprised of thirty men and women, who are also magi, he trained with these men and women in order to fight on near equal footing with heroic spirits. Due to one thing, and one thing only:

Noble Phantasms.

The summoning of a Caster servant could lend them an edge in battle. He could have the Caster servant make countless weapons, for his people to use.

It helps that his servant claims that the Caster he intends to summon, has the ability to create countless Noble Phantasms, that rival the original.

“ORLANDO!” A loud deep voice calls out to him.

He would recognize that voice anywhere. That loud, and honestly obnoxious voice belongs to his servant.

“In here, Rider!” Orlando yells back, shaking his head as he hears loud footsteps, heading his way.

Subtility is not the pharaohs strong point it seems.

Hearing a door open, he turns his head to greet his servant. Taller than average, dark brown hair, and golden eyes like that of the rising sun.

“You sent me to a death trap, Orlando!” The Rider takes a few steps toward his Master.

“But you were able to see I was indeed not lying, were you not?” Orlando retorts. “The King of Heroes, Gilgamesh has been summoned.”

“He is a coward!” Ozymandias spits out, “The idiot fights deceitfully, from long range.”

“You see my predicament then.”

The pharaoh opens his mouth to argue with the police officer some more, but stops as he notices the summoning circle behind Orlando.

“Ah, it seems you are not completely foolish!” Ozymandias jokes, slapping his Master on the back, playfully as he steps next to the command seal. “You should be grateful to your pharaoh, for allowing you to summon someone so near and dear to me!”

Orlando nods his head, bowing slightly. “I am ever grateful for your generosity, my pharaoh. We will surly win this war.”

“Of course!” Ramses smiles brightly at Orlando. “For someone so stiff as you, at least you know how to give thanks properly!”

Orlando ignores the slight jab at him, instead asking, “Shall I begin the summoning ritual?”

The Rider class servant nods his head. “I am eager to see, if you can maintain two servants.”

“I will not disappoint you, Ramses.” Orlando assures him, holding his right hand out, beginning the chant to summon his second servant.

Orlando Reeve is no fool.

The summoning of this servant, must work! What makes a servant is their Noble Phantasm.

And his biggest obstacle, is the King of Heroes, Gilgamesh.

He intends to overwhelm the Archer servant, with sheer numbers. Rider claims that the servant he demands that he summon, can create weapons, greater than original copy.

Gilgamesh must be dealt with first.

Before he can draw Ea.

A large gust of wind passing over him, through small pants he lowers his right hand.

The Master glances over at the pharaoh, noticing his wide eyes, and a smile present on his face.

As the dust settles in the large Japanese style house, a figure meets his gaze.

A young boy. If Orlando had to guess, he would assume that he’s no more than fourteen, maybe fifteen years old at the most.

Grey hair. Lavender Eyes.

The servant begins to speak, his tone soft, with a touch of kindness to it.

“Hello! My Class is Caster!” He cheerfully states, “Master, my true name is-“

“MOSES!” Ozymandias exclaims, pulling in the young Caster for a hug.

That name causes Orlando’s ears to perk up.                      

Moses, the prophet from Jewish and Christianity lore. The one who sent ten plagues to the very pharaoh standing in front of him.

The one who parted the Red Sea.

Orlando digs through his pockets, pulling out a cell phone, and dialing a number. He watches the former brothers go back and forth with their teasing. Something about Ozymandias testing Moses on his Egyptian…

It doesn’t take too long before someone picks up at the other end.

“…Boss?” The voice utters.

“We’ve won.” Orlando simply states, heading up the wooden stairs. “Tell the clan, it is almost time to act. We’ve been immobile for too long.”

“Shit.” Gudako mutters, as she helps Hakuno dry her hair. “What a fucking mess!”

Hakuno brings a hand up to her shoulder, tracing the out lines of her markings.

“Has Sherlock messaged you back yet?”

“No.” Gudako mummers, “I sent the photo of your command seals to Sherlock. He’ll have more information on them in the morning, I’m sure.”

Hakuno nods her head, looking towards the closed door.

“You should get to know him better.” Gudako says. “He’s your servant after all.”

“I didn’t call him though!” Hakuno retorts, “I didn’t call him at all.”

“Maybe the grail thought you needed a new companion?” Gudako teases, standing up. “Maybe you’ve had those command seals on your body for a few days now, and the grail got tired of you not summoning anyone, and matched you with someone who suits you best?”

“A male version of our Arthur?”

Gudako shrugs. “The grail thought you could use some knights in your life.”

“Very funny.”

“Seriously, you need to get to know him better! I’ll take Gilgamesh and Abigail out on a walk, to pick up some food. This place is Tokyo, right? So, it should be the same as the Tokyo you and me know.”

“How are we going to break to the news to Gil?” Hakuno whispers.

“He’ll figure it out on his own!” Gudako waves a hand at Hakuno, “You’re a grown woman now! Not that kid he met on the Moon Cell. He should realize that by now. He’s not your father, or your husband.”

Hakuno bites her lip. Damn her. She’s making good points.

“Good!” Gudako grabs Hakuno by the hand. “You agree with me! Now, you stay in here until you hear the door slam. We’ll take our time, so you can talk with Arthur a lot!”

Frowning a bit, Hakuno watches the younger mage give her a wink as she slowly closes the bathroom door behind her.

_“You intend to go out at this hour, woman?!” Gilgamesh grumbles._

_“Mhm. I’m hungry, and I’m sure Hakuno is too. We don’t have any money at all! Besides, Abby is hungry too right?”_

_“Yes! I want pancakes!” Abigail excitedly states._

_“What is the status of those markings on her shoulder?” Gilgamesh questions, “When will she be done with her bath?”_

_“Sherlock is analyzing them now.” Gudako says, “Hakuno is relaxing, all of the stress from this made her a little sick.”_

_“Then the last thing we need to be doing is leaving her here! Where is that Saber?”_

_“I dunno. Said something about patrolling the area? Come on, the more you go back and forth with me about this, the longer it’s going to take to get back!”_

Hearing Gilgamesh grumble and complain that this will “take far too long,” is the last thing she hears, before the door of Arthur’s apartment slams shut.

…Okay the easy part is over.

Now for the difficult part of all of this. He has to be waiting for her, somewhere in his apartment.

Why is she so nervous? Arthur seems kind. He did help her, and Gudako escape that hotel earlier.

Plus, she’s talked with Arthur before! As a woman, but still! They can’t be that much different, right?

Psyching herself up she pulls on her long sleeves, before opening the bathroom door, and stepping out into the living room.

Looking around for a moment, she hears a doorknob twist. Turning around, she meets those green eyes of her Saber.

“Is it safe to come out now?” Arthur asks, to which Hakuno nods her head.

“Good.” Arthur smiles, as Hakuno moves closer to the Saber. “I was trying to hide my mana the best I could, but that is not my forte.” He confesses.

“I have some questions for you.” Hakuno begins, looking up at Arthur.

“Of course, Master!” Arthur takes Hakuno by the hand, leading her into the room where he was hiding earlier.

“You can call me Hakuno, Saber.”

“Likewise, you may call me Arthur.” He retorts, flashing a smile her way.

….Maybe it’s just her imagination, but did her heart skip a beat?

Closing the door behind them, Hakuno takes a look around what she assumes to be Arthur’s room.

Simple really. Nothing more than a large bed, and a desk in here.

But the view though…that’s one good thing about his room. She can see the outline of Tokyo from here.

“Why were you not upfront with me, about being my servant?” Hakuno questions, sitting down on the bed.

“Well…” Arthur begins, sitting next to his Master, “I must apologize for that. There was a lot going on, as you know and I didn’t have time to be truthful with you. For that I apologize deeply. I can understand, if you do not trust me.”

Heat rushes to her cheeks. Really, it’s not fair for him to look at her with those sad eyes of his! He’s cheating!

“I-It’s not that I don’t trust you.” Hakuno mutters, “It’s that I’m just slightly confused. I didn’t summon you…”

“The grail chose you Hakuno.” Once again, he takes her by the hand. “As it did me. This is like destiny, as if it was meant to be.”

Ah, but she really doesn’t want to fight in another grail war.

“I’ve already done this song and dance before Arthur.” Hakuno darts her eyes away from the king. “I’ve won a grail war before.”

“As have I.”

Silence. It’s quiet for who knows how long, until Arthur finally utters.

“Then, how about this, instead of fighting to win the grail war. We fight in order to return you and your friend home.”

“That isn’t a bad idea.”

Arthur chuckles a bit, tilting Hakuno’s head to his. “Then look at me Master. I promise you, as a king and knight, I will protect you and the world to the best of my ability.”

Hakuno smiles up at the knight. “I promise to do my best to support you as well, Arthur!”

“Then it is settled.” Arthur nods his head. “How are you feeling, Master? Is there anything you would like to know?”

“Just a little tired.” Hakuno finds herself falling back onto the bed, with the knight not far behind her. “There is one thing that I would like to ask you, before Gudako gets back.”

“Hm? I will do the best to answer your question truthfully.”

“Is this place _really_ Tokyo?” Hakuno asks, leaning her head against the pillow, her brown eyes meeting Arthur’s irises.

“Of course, this is Tokyo!” Arthur replies, scooting closer to Hakuno, allowing her to rest her head on him. “However, there is another name that the servants call this city by..”

Hakuno closes her eyes as she listens to her new servant utter the last word of his sentence, the grail war, discussing about which servants are summoned and who their Masters are, it can all wait.

“Us servants call Tokyo, “Neo-City” Master.”

For now, all that matters is finally getting some sleep.


	4. Awaken, My Love

The female pants slightly.

Two A.M. The height of her magical power.

The goal was to summon a Saber.

The catalyst? A small piece of fabric passed down through the Tohsaka family.

She read in her fathers notes, that the fabric was a part of a pharaoh’s robes.

Surly a powerful pharaoh has answered her calls.

In a Saber form no less.

Instead she finds…..a woman?

Well, women were pharaoh’s, too right? She vaguely reading about Cleopatra in school….

OH! Maybe she actually summoned Cleopatra?!

Blinking her eyes, she takes a closer look at the Servant sprawled out on the basements cold floor.

Light brown hair….a small figure. Is this really a pharaoh?

She glances down at the red marks at her hand.

Command seals. Undeniable poof that she’s a Master.

….So, this girl is indeed her servant.

Her breath hitches in her throat as she hears the Servant groan a bit.

Slowly, very slowly, the female servant sits up, her intense brown eyes, staring her down.

“….Ramses?” The girl asks.

Ramses…? The new Master looks around, she must be mistaking her from somewhere else.

“....I’m your Master. My name is Rin. Rin Tohsaka.”

“I see..” The servant mummers, “Then you are not my Ramses….and this is not Egypt.”

What’s with this girl? Did she just summon someone weird or-

“My true name is Nefertari.” Whatever was her issue, it’s seemingly gone now as she smiles up at Rin, as she stands up.

Rin’s servant moves closer to her, for the first time Rin notices how short Nefertari is…she has to be at least four inches taller than the girl.

“My class is Ber…hmmm…oh that’s right! Caster! Caster is my class!” Nefertari says, her eyes shining in the dimly lit basement.

Caster?!

She summoned a Caster?!

No, this wasn’t supposed to happen! She was supposed to summon a _Saber_ dammit, not a Caster!

Just her luck….

“It’s nice to meet you too Nefertari.” Rin tells the girl, despite her disappointment.

“Mm! It’s funny….” Nerfertari begins, standing on tip-toes bringing her face closer to Rin’s. “You look like one of my children.

“W-what…?” What is she on about? Children? She needs to find out more about this person. She has a feeling that not only has she not summoned a Saber, but she hasn’t summoned a pharaoh either.

“Yes…your eyes, and your hair….you look like my Heunttawy!” Nefertari exclaims. “I am so lucky to have you as a Master Rin!”

Suddenly Rin finds herself being hugged.

Hard.

Way too hard for someone of her stature.

“Nefertari…let me ask you something.”

“Of course, you may ask me anything Rin.” Nefertari replies, still hugging Rin just a little too hard.

“Are you a pharaoh?”

“Pharaoh?” Nefertari pulls back, staring at Rin for a moment. “No, I am not a pharaoh, but I am the wife of one! The best pharaoh! You have summoned Nefertari wife of Ramses the Great.”

….Just when she thought it couldn’t get any worse.

What shitty luck.

“Leave.” Arthur hisses at the golden Archer, his green eyes flickering at his Master, before returning to the threat before him.

“You lied to me.” Gilgamesh glares at the knight before. “Not only to me, but to the woman you tricked into becoming your Master.”

“I did not trick her!” Arthur argues trying to keep his voice low. “You don’t know the whole situation. Moreover, you are contracted with lady Gudako, so you have no say over who my Master contracts to.”

“That is where you are wrong Saber.” Gilgamesh retorts, a small golden gate appears beside Gilgamesh. “I was her servant before you were even a though in my Masters head.”

“You keep calling Hakuno your Master, but you are not contracted to her.” Arthur says again, this man is really making it hard to keep his cool.

“She keeps refusing to contract with me.” Gilgamesh admits, shrugging.

Scoffing, Arthur resists the urge to roll his eyes. “I wonder why? Perhaps she was tired of being around you. I take pity on my Master, just knowing she was ever contracted to the likes of you.”

“Watch your tone with me Saber.” Gilgamesh warns.

“Or what? You’ll kill me? In front of Hakuno? I highly doubt that.”

The pair continues to glare at each other, before a voice barely above a whisper interrupts them.

“Stop arguing.” Hakuno orders, turning over her back facing the pair. “I’m trying to sleep.”

The arrogant king makes an annoyed noise, ridding the portal to his Gate of Babylon from te room. “What is your true name? You owe me that much at least mongrel.”

Arthur opens his mouth to throw another insult at Gilgamesh, but instead give out his true name.

“Arthur. I am a king not a tyrant like yourself.”

Silence.

Then loud laughing, extremely loud laughing.

God, he’s so damn annoying. Maybe Arthur should do everyone a favor, and just kill him here….

“Fool! You have to come up with a better lie than that! Come now, what is your true name?”

“I am not lying idiot.” Arthur crosses his arms, “What, must I prove my identity to someone of your caliber? I’m afraid the only way you’ll see my Noble Phantasm is if you’re the on the receiving end.”

The tension returns as quickly as it left.

“You are too confident in yourself Mongrel.” Gilgamesh moves past Arthur, towards Hakuno shoving his shoulder into him on his way past. “I would be more than happy to send you back to the throne of heroes like the weakling you are but…”

Both of their eyes drift towards a now blanket covered Hakuno.

“I tire of arguing with you.” Gilgamesh simply states, hopping into the bed, his loud, golden armor disappearing as Hakuno whines.

Arthur brings a hand up to his face.

He’s got to find a way to send this man back to wherever the hell he came from.

He’s going to be slowly driven insane at this rate.

“That is my bed you’re laying in tyrant.” Arthur whispers, as he too gets into his own bed, if only to push out Gilgamesh from it.

“It is uncomfortable.” Gilgamesh complains, “As expected from someone who claims to be King Arthur. A faker.”

“Then sleep on the floor!”

“Please…” Hakuno whines, “Stop fighting.”

“Hakuno, that man is a lair. Surly you see this.”

“I believe him.” Hakuno answers without skipping a beat. “I believe Arthur, I don’t think he would lie to me.”

Warmth fills Arthur body. For some reason, the fact that his Master believes him makes him extremely happy.

“You are too trusting Master. You are not naïve. You’ve seen the many Artorias in Chaldea. Do I need to remind you that they are _female?_ You know this man is a fake.”

“I don’t think he’s lying Gil.” Hakuno tells Gilgamesh once more, effectively shutting down the conversation.

Ah, so that’s why this irritating man doesn’t believe that he is really king Arthur. The Arthur in her world is female.

Honestly that thought makes him laugh. Merlin did always say that he’s pretty enough to be a female.

Never mind about that time Kay bullied him into dressing up in females’ clothes when they were younger….

“Master, I hate to bug you but I must tell you that we have to register with the church in the morning.”

Hakuno merely nods her head, moving closer to the knight.

“Then let us go now, and get this irritating part over with.” Gilgamesh proposed, his arms snaking around Hakuno’s waist pulling her back against his now bare chest.

“Can’t you think of anyone other than yourself?” Arthur mummers, “Hakuno is tired, she just summoned a servant, and has ran all across Neo-City. The same can be said for lady Gudako. Let them rest. They are only human.”

Arthur hears the Archer say something in a foreign tongue, to which Hakuno responds back in the same language, sheepishly.

Arthur stares up at the ceiling for a few minutes, until he hears both his Master, and Gilgamesh sound asleep.

He brushes away some of Hakuno’s hair from her face.

At first, he had doubts that the man on the other side of the bed was indeed Gilgamesh. After all, the Archer in the building earlier in the night is also Gilgamesh.

Yet, the man in his home carries the same arrogant attitude. The type of personality the looks down on others, that believes himself to be a god.

There is only one conclusion that Arthur can conjure up: the man that is now stealing all of the damn blankets, is an older version of the Gilgamesh that he rescued Hakuno from.

Right then. If that’s the case then at least he’s on their side. For now.

Feeling a warm hand on top of his own. He looks down to find Hakuno’s hand gripping his own.

Arthur smiles to himself. The only boon here is that he’s been blessed with a kind Master.

Closing his eyes, he once again drifts off to sleep to join his Master in the dreamworld.

A loud slam.

The Caster recognizes the noise as someone slamming the door.

He checks the time.

Six A.M. Nearly sunrise.

It can’t be their Master, their Master mentioned he would be staying in for the night as he already registered his information with the Church that morning.

Then that must mean one thing….

“Brother!!!” The grey-haired boy, runs up the stairs.

An annoyed groan can be heard, as the Caster greets his brother. “Ramses!” He greets before frowning.

Light scratch marks, his hair all messed up, jewelry out of place.

The Rider has been in a battle.

“Orlando sent me into a death trap!” Ozymandias complains, huffing as he takes his shoes off. “That Archer he sent me to fight? Insane! That man has no care over human life. Moses, he wishes to send as many innocents as possible to the underworld!”

Moses laughs a bit.

“What is so funny brother?” Ozymandias raises an eyebrow.

“I just haven’t heard you that excited about a battle, since we were teenagers.”

The pharaoh chuckles. “I suppose so. Where is our Master? I need to have a few words with him about sending me into that hellhole.”

“He should be in his room.” Moses nods his head down the hall.

Ozymandias nods his head. Taking one step forward, and stopping looking around.

“…Did you feel that brother?”

“Feel what?” Moses asks blinking his violet eyes. “Did you feel a new servant being summoned?”

“Not that…” Ozymandias whispers before shaking his head.

There’s no way…

Still, he knows that scent. There’s only one person with that has that exact scent.

His wife. His favorite wife. Nefertari.

But, there isn’t any possibility she’s a heroic spirit. Perhaps that battle wore him down, more than he thought.

“Are you okay Ramses? Do you want me to make you something to eat? I could make that omurice we were hearing so much about on T.V today. You have to be tired after fighting all night.”

“I am fine. I just thought I sensed something. That sounds good, brother. As the sun I will allow you to offer me tribute just this once, while I go have a talk with Master.”

….And convince him to let the pair roam the city later today.

He needs to investigate where that scent came from, and how it got there.

“I’m tired, Master!” Abigail whines, as she takes in the sights around Neo-City.

“Me too.” Gudako yawns, “It’s only elven in the morning, we didn’t go to bed until three thanks to a certain pair.”

“Quit complaining.” Gilgamesh looks back at his contactor, before returning his attention to Hakuno. “Master, how are you feeling?”

“I agree with Gudako, we would’ve slept better if you both weren’t fighting.”

“THANK YOU!” Gudako says in English.

“Forgive me Master…” Arthur pleas.

“It’s cool.” Gudako catches up with Hakuno. “So, Hakuno, what is the plan when we get to the church? Should we go in together, or one at a time?”

“I think together.”

“That’s a relief! I’ve never been in an actual Holy Grail War before, so I’m happy to have a veteran like you here!”

Hakuno smiles at Gudako. “I’m happy you thought of a believable story for our servants.”

“Well, they all have blonde hair…” Gudako runs a hand through her own hair. “So, it was only natural for me to come up with the idea that they’re siblings.”

“I always wanted big brothers!” Abby comments happily.

“….You could have thought of something better mongrel.”

“Gilgamesh-oniisan is just a tsundere!” The foreigner teases.

“Can we send this kid back to Chaldea?” Gilgamesh grumbles.

“You bought me pancakes last night! You wanted some too, don’t lie!”

Hakuno tunes out the back and forth between Gilgamesh and Abby. “Arthur, do you know what the overseer is like?”

“No. Servants aren’t allowed inside the church.” Arthur tells Hakuno, as the party approaches a large building.

“That’s what a church looks like?!” Gudako asks.

“I’ll keep watch over these two…make sure Miss Abigail doesn’t bribe Gilgamesh into buying more pancakes.”

Hakuno giggles, before looking over at Gudako. “Are you ready?”

“A-As ready as I’ll ever be..” Gudako grabs Hakuno’s hand. “Sorry, you’re just comforting. I’m pretty nervous.” Gudako confesses, as the pair inch closer to the church’s door.

“From what I remember all we need to do is give our name, and show the overseer our command spells.”

“Easy enough.”                                 

A little _too_ easy if Gudako is being honest.

Hakuno pushes open the door, still holding Gudako’s hand as they make their way inside.

Past the corridor, and the beautifully painted murals on the church’s walls, a long-haired female stands at the end of the hall.

….A nun?

Gudako squints her eyes.

“Hey, Hakuno, are we about to be a part of some lewd online video that we just don’t know about…? I mean nuns are pretty…y’know.”

….No she doesn’t know.

The nuns eyes meet her own.

“You two must be the last two Master’s we’ve been waiting on. Jeez, you really kept me waiting! I am Caren Kotomine, one of the overseers of this Holy Grail War.”


	5. Guns & Ships

“I need to see your Command Seals.” Caren says, eyeing the pair of Masters. “After all, how else am I supposed to determine if you’re both Masters or not?”

Glancing over at Hakuno, Gudako asks a simple question:

“How many overseers are there? You’re one obviously, but who are the others?”

“Show me your Command Seals first.” Caren’s yellow eyes narrowing. “Quid pro quo. As an Overseer, I don’t give out information for free.”

“Fine.” Hakuno says, reluctantly unbuttoning her shirt a bit revealing the red markings on her chest

“Oh!” Gudako exclaims, “Right!” Following Hakuno’s lead, she too reveals the Command Seals on her right hand.

Caren’s white hair, flows behind her as she inspects both Master’s Command Seals.

“Hmm.” Frowning a bit, Caren meets Gudako’s eyes. “I suppose that will do. I have to ask what class your Servants are.”

“A-Archer.” Gudako says, her eyes darting between Hakuno and Caren.

“I have a Saber class servant.”

“I see.” Bringing a hand up to her chin, it’s as if she’s pondering for a moment.

“I guess since you’ve both shown me your Command Seals, I will tell you how many Overseers there are. Three. Myself, an afternoon overseer, and an evening overseer.”

“Why are there so many Overseers?” Hakuno asks. Really, that’s not normal at all. On the Moon Cell there was only one Overseer. A sketchy one to be sure but….

From what she remembers the Rin on the Moon Cell mentioned that there is usually only one Overseer per Holy Grail War.

“You really don’t know?” Tilting her head, Caren smiles a…. sadistic smile?

God, something about that smile reminds Hakuno of…. someone. She can’t quite place her finger on exactly who.

“Nope.” Gudako admits, smiling. “Our family just sent us here, and told us to win!~”

Resisting the urge to let out a sigh, Hakuno instead plays along.

“That’s right. Our family didn’t give us very many details. Only to summon the strongest Servant we could.” 

“Hopeless.” Caren complains. “As a servant of the Lord, I will give you the information you seek.”

You mean she was just doing her job then? Gotcha.

“You see, the Grail in general has not been seen in five hundred years.” The Nun explains, crossing her arms. “As such, your association against the church’s better judgement has allowed upwards of fifteen Masters to participate. Noon today is the cutoff date for accepting Masters.”

Gudako swallows, “Fifteen Masters? Isn’t that a lot of a Holy Grail War? Isn’t the limit usually seven?”

Hakuno shrugs. To be honest, fifteen is better than one-hundred. She’ll take that number over fighting one-hundred Masters any day of the week.

“Normally. This Grail War isn’t exactly normal is it?” Caren asks in a mocking tone.

No, it’s not. Not at all. Something is fishy about all of this.

Gudako must feel the same way, judging how she balled her fists up at Caren’s words.

“Now, is there anything else I can help you with ah, oh that’s right! I never got your names!” Caren exclaims, rushing over to a nearby pew, grabbing a piece of paper.

…Something isn’t right about this girl. How can she go from sadistic to happy go lucky in merely a few seconds?

“Fujimaru Ritsuka.”

Caren nods her head. “And you?” Those golden eyes, meeting Hakuno’s.

“Kishinami Hakuno.”

“As I was saying, Ritsuka, Hakuno, is there anything else this humble servant of God can do for you?”

“You could tell us who the other Masters are.” Gudako smiles weakly.

“Against the rules. Anything else?”

“It is unusual to see a Dead Apostle take place in a Holy Grail War.” The former policeman comments, pouring a glass of wine for both himself, and the man who invited him here.

“And it’s unusual to see you miss out on extra cash. How is business going with Clan Calatin, Orlando?”

“Extremely well, Mr. Karture. I wouldn’t dare leave my people behind in America. They are quite excited about this mission you see.”

Jester Karture. One of the rare creatures known as Dead Apostles. Humans that became Vampires either though Magecraft, or through another vampire.

Honestly, he didn’t even believe in the existence of Dead Apostles until he received a strange request for a job.

Exterminate a member from the Burial Agency.

That request made him extremely confused, until he realized who his client was.

The man standing before him.

The pay was well enough…

Needless to say, the Burial Agency was not very happy with him.

“Please, just “Jester” is fine.”

Orlando cannot lie and say that this man doesn’t make him nervous, because he _does_.

He’s heard stories of Dead Apostles.

How these creatures suck blood.

How boredom is their greatest enemy. These beings are no strangers to inciting civil wars in other countries, just for entertainment.

“Jester, what is the purpose of asking me to come here to your humble abode?”

“You are right to the point I see.” Jester smirks, taking a sip of wine, frowning at the taste. A cheap imitation to the taste of blood.

“Forgive me. If I am gone too long, my Servants will begin to become suspicious of me.”

“Servants?” You summoned more than one?”

Damn.

“No need to lie. I did as well.”

“And you are being far too open with me.”

“If I am to enter a partnership with you, wouldn’t that be ideal?” Jester asks.

“Partnership?”

“Yes.” The vampire simply states. “I heard that you managed to find an artifact that dates back to Ramses the Great. Did anything come from that?”

….These beings are not to be taken lightly.

He told only a few in his inner circle about the artifact he found! How did this man know about that?!

“I see you are still hesitant on tell me the results from your summoning. How about this? I will tell you one of the Servants I summoned.”

“Oh?”

“Fair?”

Orlando watches as Jester pulls out a golden cross from his pocket.

“This artifact belongs to one Bartholomew Roberts. A Rider class servant.”

Bartholomew Roberts? The famed pirate?

“Shall I summon him here for you?”

Before Orlando can tell Jester no, gold dust fills the room.

Before him stands, a handsome servant. Dark hair, bright blue eyes.

“Master?” The servant asks.

“May I ask you to tell this man your true name?”

“Master…” The servant hisses. “Are you sure you can trust this man?”

“He is a friend of mine. Now please, Rider.”

“Rider class Servant, Bartholomew Roberts at your service.” The Rider Servant bows slightly.

…So, he wasn’t lying then.

“Thank you.” Jester tells his Servant. “That’s all for now.”

Without another word, Bartholomew disappears.

“Now I have held up my end of the deal.” Jester begins…”I have a feeling about who exactly you summoned, but I would like to be sure.”

Shit. He’s in a lose-lose situation here. If he doesn’t show his Servant, there’s a good chance that this vampire will out-right kill him.

He thinks about his options for a moment.

His Servant doesn’t look too terribly strong. Even if he is a famous pirate. His own Servant could easily win.

“Ramses II is my Servant.”

“Ah! It is just as I thought then! Congratulations, it is quite an accomplishment to summon one as the great pharaoh of Egypt.”

“As it is that you summoned Bartholomew Roberts, Jester.”

“Now, shall we stop tiptoeing around?” Jester’s expression darkens. “I have both heard and seen Gilgamesh, the King of Heroes in Tokyo. Your Servant fought him before.”

“…You would be correct.”

“Then surly you would agree that Gilgamesh is the greatest threat in this war.”

“I am not disagreeing.” Orlando states, finishing his wine. “However, I am not sure what you’re getting at here.”

“I would like Clan Calatin and my own people to join forces, and overwhelm the King of Heroes.”

“Your people?”

“I have disciples who will die for me, the same as you. Now, do you accept or not?”

“Master!” Abigail exclaims, running up to Gudako and Hakuno.

“Master.” Arthur greets.

“That took much longer than expected, Hakuno.” Gilgamesh complains. “You kept me waiting for far too long.”

“We we’re trying to get information!” Gudako says, hugging Abigail.

“And how did that go?” Arthur asks.

“About as well as you’d expect.” Hakuno replies, her brown eyes looking up at him.

So, not very good then.

“The church is useless.” Gilgamesh crosses his arms. “They care about nothing but their own goals, Hakuno.”

No kidding.

“Anyway, what should we do now? I wanna go back to Arthur’s place and take a nap but…” Gudako sighs, “Dealing with that girl made me sleepy.”

“What would you like to do Master?”

Hakuno bites her lip, as much as she would like to nap as well, the best option would be to scout the area a bit. Learn their way around.

“I think we should look around the town a bit.” Hakuno suggests, “You know your way around here Arthur. Myself, and Gudako don’t.”

“Yeah, this Tokyo looks a lot different from my own. I don’t think Hakuno has ever been to Tokyo, have you?”

“Then you will serve as our guide mongrel.” Gilgamesh tells Arthur as if there’s no room to argue with him. “I have been to Japan before, but not in this particular area.”

He has? Hakuno thinks to herself. He never mentioned that he was once summoned to Japan before.

There’s so much she still doesn’t know about Gilgamesh.

“Master?” Arthur calls her. “Are you alright?”

“O-Oh, sorry. I was just thinking about something.”

“Where would you like to begin Master?”

“…You had better pick something quick mongrel.” Gilgamesh hisses. “It appears we’re being watched.”

Hakuno’s breath hitches in her throat, she glances over at Gudako, who’s now standing behind Abby.

“Mr. Gilgamesh is right.” Abigail whispers. “I sense a Servant nearby.”

With no hesitation, Arthur grabs Hakuno’s hand.

“Let us go. I know somewhere we can go.”

“R-Right.” Gudako says following after Arthur and Hakuno.

Gilgamesh stares up at the far-off rooftops.

Coward, hiding like this. If they wish to confront them, they should do.

Instead, they wish to sneak around like a rat.

“Gil!” Hakuno calls.

“Coward.” The Archer Servant mutters, before going to meet up with his former Master.

“You know that Servant?” A small girl looks up, meeting a blond hair mans red eyes.

“Can I take these contacts out? They’re very uncomfortable.”

“Maybe if you answer my question Archer!~”

“Manaka.”

“Archer.”

Sighing irritated, the Archer bends down not breaking eye contact with her light blue eyes.

“That servant? He’s my father.” The Archer servant admits, his hand grabbing the pendant around his neck.

Manaka’s eyes flash up at Archer, before looking back at the thing he’s clutching in his hand.

“Oh?” Resting her hand on Archers, she asks: “What’s this Archer?”

“It’s a pendent with my Sumerian name-“

The female Master takes the necklace, almost snapping the chain holding the pendant in place.

“Hm?” Manaka glances at her Servant for a moment, inspecting the newly acquired necklace.

“But Archer, there's Japanese written on here.” Manaka points out, holding up the pendent in the sunlight.

“It says, “Sian.” On the other side, there’s these strange scribbles…”

“It’s Cuniform.” Archer explains,  “It has my True Name inscribed onto it.”

“Ur-Nungal.” Manaka says proudly smiling at Nungal. “Now, my prince, will you explain to me, how Hiragana ended up on an ancient artifact like this?”

Nungal gives Manaka a slight glare, earning him a smile from the young girl.

“Aw, don’t give me that look Nungal! Or should I call you Sianny? I like the way that sounds! Either way, I have professed my love for you, right?”

“That is correct Master.” Nungal’s gaze soften as Manaka touches his face gently.

“Then, I think I’ll keep this.” Manaka leans her face to the young kings, pressing her lips to his own.

“I love you, my king.”

Panting, Hakuno looks back at Arthur and Gilgamesh.

“Isn’t it illegal to camp out at the church?!” Gudako asks, catching her breath.

“I don’t remember any grail wars that I’ve been in.” Abigail mutters. “But, I think it’s odd for someone for someone, a Master at that, to stake out the church.”

“That’s neither here nor there. Mongrel.” Gilgamesh gets Arthur’s attention.

“As our guide, I am expecting you to show us around.”

“You are quite calm despite a Servant stalking us.” Arthur comments, his green eyes narrowing.

“Only a fool would attack in broad day light.” Gilgamesh shoots back.

“You are the fool here. You take Hakuno and Lady Gudako’s safety lightly!”

“No, it’s fine!” Hakuno interjects. “I’d like to explore Tokyo as well. Gudako does too.”

“I just want a coffee. Fuck all this shit.”

Hakuno laughs a bit. “See? Let’s explore!” Grabbing both Arthur and Gilgamesh by the hand, smiling.

Arthur’s heartbeat increases just ever so slightly. “…I think I might know a few places.”

* * *

 

Cuddling her gray hoodie close to her, Gudako looks out at the sea in the night sky.

The female Master looks over her older friend, as she has her attention taken up by the male servants.

They’re no doubt arguing about something petty.

“Hey, King Gilgamesh, thank you for the hoodie.”

Gilgamesh looks up for a moment, before returning his attention to Hakuno.

…Jerk. Can’t even say. “Oh, it’s no problem. I was buying one of Hakuno anyways, since it’s fucking freezing out here for no reason.” 

Nope, can’t admit that at all.

“Mr. Gilgamesh, thank you for my jacket! It’s very pretty!” Abigail says, giving Gilgamesh a thumbs up.

The King of Heroes simply waves his hand away.

“Aren’t you kind.” Arthur softly says.

“I have done more for Hakuno, than you have and yet, you are her Servant. Curious isn’t it?”

“Gil..” Hakuno warns.

“No, Hakuno, you are too kind and naïve. This man only cares for himself.”

“Rich coming from you.”

“If we are bringing wealth into it, then I have more riches than your mind can comprehend.”

“Stop fighting!” Hakuno exclaims. “Please! We have to work together!”

“….Hakuno is right. I do not like this, but you are _Lady Gudako’s_ Servant.”

“I am also Hakuno’s.”

Hakuno sighs brining a hand to her face.

“I’m sorry Hakuno.” Gudako teases. “It must be rough.”

“Rough” is one way to put it.

“HAKUNO! MASTER!” Abigail suddenly exclaims, her eyes fixated on the ocean

Whatever argument Gilgamesh was about to spew, he stops.

“….I feel it as well. Surly you do as well, mongrel.”

Arthur nods. “Hakuno, get behind me. You too Gudako.”

“Aren’t you all a sight for sore eyes?!” A loud voice calls as a figure hops onto the pier.

Hakuno manages to get a peak of the figure. If Abigail could sense him, then he must be a Servant.

Baby blue eyes. Dark hair.

“Didn’t know that there a was a pirate convention going on.” Gudako whispers.

Now that Gudako said something, he _does_ look like a pirate.

“Step aside blondie.” The Servant tells Arthur. “I have no quarrel with you, but it is that one I wish to fight with. Though, I will not say no to a two for one.” He explains, pointing at Gilgamesh.

“You truly are more of an idiot that I thought, if you think you can beat me.” Gilgamesh smirks, golden portals opening.

Resisting the urge to roll his eyes, Arthur tells the mysterious servant one small fact.

“Sorry, but I must fight this man. I cannot allow you to kill him before I do.”

“Shame.” The Servant says, pulling a gun from his back pocket. “Then I will have to kill you both. Maybe if you’re lucky, I’ll leave the ladies behind you alive as well.”

He fires.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you all are enjoying the story so far! I'm having a lot of fun writing it! I hope you're having fun reading it too! 
> 
> I would love to hear any thoughts or comments! Thank you for reading my stories!


	6. Reinventing How This Game Is Played

“Come Moses.” The Pharaoh urges, throwing a light jacket on.

Frowning, Moses stares up meeting the somewhat arrogant man’s eyes.

“Remind me why we’re leaving the house?

Honestly, there isn’t much of a reason to. For one it’s cold. Two, the more that him and his brother are out in public, the greater chance someone will pick up on their mana.

It’s too risky. They should stay here and wait on their Masters orders. They could watch more T.V., cook more noodles-

Sharp tugging on his arm brings the Caster back to his senses.

“I believe I told you the reason!” Ozymandias reminds Moses, grabbing a violet hoodie from a nearby chair, pushing it towards his younger brother.

“You just claimed that I “need to leave this dreary home, and explore.”

“So, you were listening!” Smirking to himself, Ozymandias chuckles. “In any case, yes, you do need to leave the house! We need to get our footing in this city, explore what it has to offer us!”

Uh-huh. Sure. And he’s actually Egyptian.

“This has something to do with whatever you sensed earlier, doesn’t it?”

Judging by that glare he just received, he’s right. His brother was always a bad lair.

“Why must you assume that I have some ulterior motive? You hurt me brother.”

“Perhaps it’s because you usually _do_ have something that you aren’t telling me. Remember that time you tried to talk the priestess of Apep, into sleeping with me?”

“And it worked did it not?” Ozymandias quickly retorts. “Now put on the jacket, and let us get on with our evening.”

Staring down at the hoodie, Moses sighs softly, before sliding the jacket over his body.

Hopefully their Master is okay with this.

* * *

“Fucking hell!” Gudako hisses, as another bullet rings through the harbor.

“Calm down.” Hakuno whispers, peeking out from their hideout, a crate of all things.

One minute, her and Gudako are standing there a bit dumbfounded, the next Gilgamesh is ordering them to find somewhere to “stay out of the way.”

He attempted to tell the Foreigner, Abigail, the same thing but to no avail.

“ _No! I’m helping too! I’m just as strong as you, I’ll prove it!”_ She told the arrogant king, before running off, before he could complain or insult her.

“What’s gong on?” Gudako asks, gripping Hakuno’s hand tighter.

The once ruler of the Moon Cell has to resist the urge to let out an annoyed sigh. Her former Servant is just _standing around_ while Arthur attempts to get close to the attacking Servant.

He’s just watching Arthur. Studying him. The urgency he had when this new Servant appeared, is gone as quickly as it came.

He hasn’t even changed from his casual clothing, to his armor.

_“Have I ever told you how loud your armor is, Gil?”_

_“You should be more grateful woman.” The King of Heroes, tells his Master as he slowly rids himself of the very loud, golden armor. “I only wear this armor for those I deem worthy of a challenge, or those I find worth fighting for.”_

Good to know that the more things change, the more they stay the same. Images of losing to Elizabeth on the Moon Cell due to this same stubbornness, come to mind.

“Come now!” The mysterious Servant laughs, swiftly dodging a sword swing, jumping back a bit. “Where is your pride as a Servant?! Surely you don’t intend to allow your teammate here to do all of the work.”

Scoffing, Gilgamesh simple crosses his arms. “You yourself, aren’t even trying, so why should I? Moreover, you attacked us like a coward, like a rat hiding in plain sight. What, is your class Assassin?”

“My class is anything but Assassin goldie!” The Servant quickly responds. “I am a Rider class Servant. Damn proud of it too!”

“Oh? So, you are less of a rat, and more of a braindead idiot, like most Riders then.” Gilgamesh taunts.

Laughing, the Rider begins to reload his gun. “That’s a blanket statement you know!”

Arthur inwardly sighs. The only braindead idiot he sees, is the one just casually standing there as if he’s on a vacation. Why isn’t he helping him?! They could rid themselves of an enemy this moment! Doesn’t he want to protect his Master? What about Hakuno? It’s obvious that she cares about this man. Why, he doesn’t know. The least he could do is protect the person that shows an ounce of affection for him.

“However,” The Rider continues. “You are correct in your assumption that I am not giving this my all. I was only here to confirm something.”

“And that is?” Arthur questions, gripping his sword hilt tightly.

Rider glances at Arthur for a split second, as he points his gun in the direction of the girls.

Without any hesitation he fires.

Closing her eyes, Hakuno quickly hides back behind cover, nearly knocking the younger mage over.

“Hakuno!” Gudako exclaims, barely keeping herself from falling down.

“S-Sorry.” Hakuno quickly apologies, her mind processing what just happened. This Servant really just tried to attack them!

“We need to find a way to help Saber.” Hakuno tells her friend.

“Gilgamesh isn’t helping?” Gudako asks, before quickly walking back that statement. “Nevermind, if you’re saying that we need to help, then Gilgamesh isn’t doing anything.”

Nodding, Hakuno once more peeks out from behind cover, only to find the back of a certain king in front of her, blocking her vision.

Damn.

“Are you two going to do something stupid?” The Archer asks, “I would advise you to stay put, if you know what is good for you.”

“Gil..” Hakuno starts.

“Saber is just fine, if that is what you’re so worried about. That girl is helping.” Archer simply states, looking back at Hakuno briefly.

“Abby!” Gudako exclaims, managing to get a slight look at the scene unfolding.

Sure enough, the small child is going blow for blow with Rider, coordinating her attacks with Saber.

“I knew those Keyblades would come in handy!” Gudako says to herself happily. “I’ll have to share a star fruit with her, when we get back home!”

Ignoring Gudako for a moment, Hakuno lightly touches the Archers hand. “You should help.”

“It is fine.”

“We could beat this Servant _now_ rather than later.” Hakuno proposes.

“Watch, he’s about to run like a true coward.”

Stubborn. 

So damn stubborn.

Instead of pulling his hand away, he intertwines their fingers together, his eyes not leaving the Saber.

“Take this!” The foreigner exclaims, swinging the key shaped sword down onto Rider’s face.

“Easy.” The Rider whispers, simply catching Abigail by her wrist midair. “Don’t you know kid? You’re supposed to use both of your hands to hold a blade at your age.”

Abigail’s baby blue eyes shoot a glare at the Rider.

“And don’t think I don’t see you, Mr. invisible sword user.” Rider glances over at Arthur, pointing his pistol directly at him.

“Let her go.” Arthur orders. “She is but a child.”

“She is a Servant. Just like you and me.” Rider retorts, nodding his head in the direction of Abigail.

“Let. Her. Go.” Arthur tells Rider again.

“Perhaps if you show me your weapons true form. Is the reason you hide it, because revealing your weapons true nature, will in turn reveal your true name Saber?”

“That’s neither here nor there.”

“Hm. That _is_ the case then.” Rider muses, before suddenly dropping Abigail hard onto the cold ground.

“This has been a fun time, but I’ve played enough for today.” Rider admits, shrugging.

“ABBY!” Gudako exclaims, attempting to rush forward, but is quickly stopped by Gilgamesh grabbing her hand.

“Coward!” Raising his sword up for another attack, he swings just as the Rider begins to disappear.

“Remind your Master that next time, she cannot hide faster than I can shoot.”  Those last words ring throughout Arthur’s mind like a bomb, before he’s brought back to reality by Gudako saying the Foreigners name, over and over again.

“Abby! Abby! Are you okay?!” 

“I-I’m fine.” Abigail smiles weakly at her Master. “How about you and Miss Hakuno?”

“We’re all good.” Gudako replies, embracing Abigail tightly.

“Forgive me Abigail.” Arthur mummers, bowing. “I was not able to protect you as I should’ve.”

“It’s okay Mr. Arthur.”

Arthur’s eyes drift over to his own Master, who appears to be arguing with the arrogant king about something.

Then he notices the intertwined fingers. The closeness of his body to hers.

The adrenaline from the recent fight courses through his body once more.

His sword disappears as he walks towards his Master and the flawed king. He balls his fists up.

Angry. He feels so upset.

But _why?_ Why does the simple act of this man touching his Master bother him so much? He’s only known Hakuno for a few days, while it seems Gilgamesh has known her for quite some time.

Yet, he can’t help but feel angry.

“Stop it!” Hakuno requests, as once more Gilgamesh leans his face in closer to her own.

“Leave her be, King of Heroes.” Arthur warns. “Do I need to remind you once again, that Hakuno is _my_ Master.”

“I hear a nuisance.” Waving his hand in a dismissive manner, Gilgamesh returns his attention back to Hakuno.

“As I was saying Master. Contract with me. You saw what little strength that man possess.  He couldn’t even defeat a weak Rider class Servant. Contract with me, and our victory in this Grail War is guaranteed.”

“No. Gudako needs you.”

“Give her Arthur.”

“No.”

“Woman…”

Taking the opportunity, Arthur swats Gilgamesh’s hand away from Hakunos, taking her hand into his own gently.

“You heard her. If you have any respect for Hakuno, you will respect her wishes.”

“Again, I hear someone that doesn’t know their place, inserting their opinion where it isn’t needed.”

“For someone that claims that they care about Hakuno, you were doing little to protect her, or your actual Master.”

“You had it. Why should I use my treasures on a weakling like that Servant? Not that I would expect you to understand the value of wealth. If you are anything like the Arthur I know, your kingdom was quite poor too. I wonder if you too, were met with an unfortunate end at the hands of your bastard son.”

“Gilgamesh!” Hakuno shouts, glaring up at the golden man.

“What? It is the truth. Hakuno, if you were smart you would head my words. Only one Master may have their wish granted by the Grail, the useless thing. Chaldea’s Master and yourself, cannot both win the Grail.”

“We’re not here for that.” Hakuno reminds Gilgamesh. “We’re just here to correct the Singularity.”

Gilgamesh sighs annoyedly. “You are not understanding! Woman, if I were to fight you, your useless Servant would be sent back to the Throne of Heroes, where he belongs.”

“You underestimate me Gilgamesh.”

“Hakuno is right.” Gudako finally chimes in, carrying Abigail on her back. “We aren’t here to win a Grail War, we’re here to correct this Singularity. If that entails winning this Grail War, then fine, that’s we’ll do. We’ll do it together, as friends.”

There. That seemed to shut the pair of Servant’s up for a moment.

“Now, if we can stop this dick measuring contest for a few minutes, let’s get home. We shouldn’t hang around here for too much longer. A Servant or a mage can probably sense the amount of mana we’re giving off right now.”

Letting Gilgamesh, Gudako, and Abigail get a little ahead, Arthur decides to ask a question.

“Master.” Arthur talks in a low voice. “I wish to talk with you. Alone, when we return.”

Hakuno nods her head. “Alright. Is it something I said? I apologize-“

“It’s nothing you’ve done Master.” Arthur assures Hakuno. “I just wish to get somethings cleared up.”

And maybe figure out why he feels so angry at the sight of Gilgamesh while he’s at it.

That doesn’t sound too bad, Hakuno thinks to herself. She owes it to Arthur to hear him out at least.

“Okay Arthur. We can talk as long as you want, once we get home.”

Without letting go of the Saber’s hand, Hakuno follows her friend, down the dimly lit streets back to her Servant’s home.

* * *

“MOSES!” Ozymandias exclaims, as looks out at the neon lights. “Where shall we go first?”

“U-Um. I’m not so sure this is a good idea…” Moses protests, his eyes too darting around the night scenery.

“Shall we try to get you a woman? I heard some good things about soaplands…”

The Caster’s face turns bright red, bringing a hand up to his face he sighs. “N-No! Absolutely not!”

Laughing, Ozymandias slaps his brother on the back. “Then stop worrying! If it’s an issue, Master will call us back. “Now, answer me Moses, what do you want to do?”

“What is there to do in Tokyo? I’ve never been here before.”

“What is there to do? Anything and everything! Think of Pi-Ramses, Moses! There is food, entertainment, women! Anything that you could ever want is in your grasp.”

So he says.

“Shall we eat then?” Moses asks. “We’ve been living off of instant noodles for a few days, I would like a hot meal.”

“That is fine with me. What do you want to eat? I am all for trying something new.”

“Maybe Japanese bread? Curry bread sounds delicious.” Moses suggests, as the pair weaves through the crowded streets. 

“I suppose we could try that. Then we shall-“

The Pharaoh stops in his tracks, looking off into the distance for a moment.

That familiar scent is back. Much closer this time.

If he hurries, he can catch her.

“Ramses!” Moses calls out, as he watches his brother take off running as if he’s running from a priest asking him to perform a ritual.

“Wait up!” Moses calls again. “Ramses!”

Truly the more things change, the more they stay the same. Even after all of this time, he’s still chasing after his big brother.

It’s as if everything is the same as when they were children.

“Ramses!”

* * *

Looking around at his surroundings, the teenager boy can’t believe he’s actually here in Japan, about to participate in a Holy Grail War.

It was easy to pull strings in order to get the artifact that he desired. It’s easy to get anything that he wants really.

After all, his family owns sixty percent of the wealth in the world.

He’s the heir to the Harwey family, Leonardo B. Harwey.

“Master, is this the right place?” A deep voice asks.

Leonardo takes a quick peek at his phone, before looking at the house in front of him.

“Mm. I think so Rider. This house is where we’ll be spending our time here in Japan.”

“Really Master, you could stand to call me by my true name. All of this formality…”

The boy laughs a bit. “Forgive me Achilles, it’s a force of habit.”

“Yeah, yeah.” The Servant yawns. “Should we go get food? Or are we having it delivered to us?”

“I think we’ll go out into the city tonight. We should say hello to our neighbor Tohsaka Rin while we’re out.”

“Ah I see what you’re doing. Are we going to bring a welcoming gift?”

“You’re the welcoming gift Achilles.” Leo reminds his Servant. “If we’re lucky, we can take out her Servant now, eliminating one of the bigger players in this game.”

“Sounds good to me Master! You can count on me!”

“And you can do the same.”

This will all be too easy, with a strong Servant like Achilles by his side, Servants will start dropping like flies.

His victory is assured.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you guys enjoyed! Thank you for reading! 
> 
> If you guys have any questions don't hesitate to leave a comment, or hit me up on Tumblr @ProducerMokyo!


	7. Sincerity Is Scary

“Hakuno, I’m going to go ahead and go to sleep. I’m exhausted for some reason.” Gudako says, looking back at her own room. “Abby went to sleep as soon as we got back.”

“And your Servant took up residence in my room!” Arthur grumbles, leaning back onto the couch. “He just sauntered off, damn near dragging my Master with him!”

“Sorry about that.” Gudako mummers. “Really, I wish there was something more I can say, but he doesn’t listen to me Arthur! He only listens to Hakuno, and his friend!”

“It’s fine.”  Hakuno chimes in, attempting to stop an argument, before it can even begin. “He didn’t hurt me. He’s just in a mood.”

“Yeah, you can say that again.” Gudako says in between yawns. “Well, we can figure out what our next step is in the morning. Maybe figure out why the hell mine and your mana supply is so drained, just after walking around the city for a bit, and fighting for a short while.”

That’s a good start.

“I don’t have a much better plan.” Hakuno admits. “I feel drained also, and I barely provided support for my Servant. It’s like I fought four rounds straight in a Holy Grail War on the Moon Cell.”

“Moon Cell?” Arthur questions. “I have never heard of such a place before.”

“You don’t want to.” Both girls say at the same time.

Seriously, Hakuno would rather be here in Neo-City than anywhere close to the Moon Cell. At least here, she can do as she wishes, without the fear of some rouge A.I interfering.

“I see…” Mummers Arthur. “It must be a terrible place, to have such a reaction out of both of you.”

“Oh, it’s much more than terrible.” Gudako says, a hint of sleepiness in her voice.

“Master…!” A whiny voice calls from another room.

“Abigail must be having another nightmare. I’m going to go ahead and head on to sleep. I’ll try to think of a place to start investigating in the morning. If you have any ideas Hakuno, we can talk about them in the morning. Arthur might know of a good place to start investigating too!”

“Mm. Sounds good. You sleep well Gudako.”

Yawning, Gudako nods her head. “You too Hakuno, don’t let Gilgamesh bug you too much. Arthur seems like a good person.”

With that, the younger Master saunters off as Abigail calls Gudako by name again.

“She is acting like a mother.” Arthur comments, crossing his arms.

“Abigail has been through a lot…”  Hakuno tells Arthur, looking up meeting Arthur’s eyes. “Gudako just wants to take care of her.”

“I understand. I felt the same way about a lot of my knights. A lot of them were young, and I wanted to mentor them in a way, so, I understand where Gudako is coming from.”

The Knights of the Round Table….

Twelve people following the same goal…

“Did you think of the knights as your children too then?”

A small laugh comes from the King of Knights. “Children? No, they were more like my siblings. We argued like siblings, rather than parent and child.”

‘Argued like siblings’ She supposes that does make sense. 

Still, that must have been hard for him. Watching his group of friends slowly fall apart like that.

Not to mention the whole Mordred debacle.

“I’m sorry.” Hakuno finds herself saying.

Slightly ruffling Hakuno’s hair, Arthur gives Hakuno a smile. “What are you sorry for Master? You have done nothing wrong.”

There is that feeling again. The butterflies in her stomach, and her heart beating incredibly fast.

“What did you want to talk about, Arthur?” Hakuno asks, changing the subject.

Looking back towards his room for a moment, he frowns a bit.

“I did wish to talk to you, Master, but ah, maybe not here. Forgive me, but I don’t want Gilgamesh to interrupt us.”

Hakuno hates to admit it, but Arthur is right. It sounds like whatever Arthur needs to speak with her about sounds important, and on the off-chance Gilgamesh wanders in here, wondering why she hasn’t joined him yet, he would no doubt accuse Arthur of doing something lewd to her.

Best to avoid that situation all together.

“No, I agree with you. I want to talk to you too, but where do you want to go? It’s late, and I would rather not go too far.”

“Hmm. Let’s go to the rooftop. It’s safe, and we wouldn’t have to leave the apartment building either.”

“Let me grab my jacket, and then we’ll go.” Hakuno says, as she walks over to the kitchen.

* * *

Darnic Prestone Yggdmillennia looks down at his completed summoning circle satisfied with its progress.

“How is your summoning circle coming along, Caules?”

Standing up, Caules Forvedge Yggdmillennia glances at Darnic. “Just finished. Do you want to summon together, or separately?”

“I think it would be best to summon together, don’t you think?”

“Y-Yeah. I think I would feel a little less nervous if we summoned together.” Caules admits.

“I’m happy that you agreed to join me here for this.” Darnic says. “It is nice to have a fellow member of the family here with me.”

“But, why me?”

“Because I see you as someone who enjoys the actual process of magecraft. I know that you betray me either, which is comforting.”

“I see…”

Truthfully, Caules wasn’t sure what kind of answer he was expecting, but that was a rather kind statement that Darnic just made.

Those words make him feel a little less nervous about participating in a Holy Grail War.

“Remember, your goal is to summon a Berseker.” Darnic tells Caules. “Don’t forget to add those extra lines while you’re summoning.”

“Right. Your goal is to summon a Saber, right?”

“That is correct. You are not using a catalyst, while I am.” Darnic explains, holding up a gold coin, before placing it onto the middle of the summoning circle. “This is an Aureus. The Mage Association was kind enough to loan me this.”

_Only because our family was guaranteed a spot in this Holy Grail War._ Caules thinks to himself.

“That coin was from the Roman Britain era, right?” 

“Correct.” Darnic simply says, stepping back a bit, with Caules following Darnic’s lead. “I’m going to summon someone from that era.”

“King Arthur?” Caules half jokingly asks.

Much to Caules surprise, he can hear Darnic chuckle a bit too.

“Let’s get this over with, Caules. My magical energy is at its highest, and if I remember correctly, so is yours. Let’s not waste this opportunity.”

“Alright!”

Taking a deep breath, Caules holds out his right hand, his own set of Command Spells on his right forearm, in clear view. With all of his magical energy focused onto his own summoning circle, he along with Darnic, the head of his family, begins the Summoning Ritual.

With ease Darnic, recites his summoning chant, meanwhile, in the back of his mind, Caules keeps reminding himself not to forget those extra lines, in order to summon a Berserker class Servant.

_“Then let thine eyes be clouded, With the fog of turmoil and chaos, thou, who art trapped in a cage of madness, And I, the summoner, who holds thy chains!”_

A slight pain hits his forearm, but at the same time a wave of relief rushes over him. Thank goodness he remembered to add those lines to his chant. He definitely doesn’t want to embarrass himself in front of Darnic.

_“Come forth from the circle of bindings, Guardian of Scales!”_

Smoke.

This room looks more like a foggy morning in the Fall, rather than a basement.

Caules glances over at Darnic for a moment, managing to catch a glimpse of his Servant through the smoke.

Dark red hair and violet eyes. Steel armor, and what could only be described as a Napoleonesque jacket.

“HAHAHA!” the man laughs.

……And he’s loud.

“Saber class Servant! True name: Lucius Tiberius, the one and only king! I ask of you, are you my Master?!”

Lucius Tiberius…? Where has he heard that name before?

Shaking his head, he quickly focuses his attention back onto his summoning circle that has now gone dim.

As his own mess of fog slowly disappears, and reveals a….Gundam?

No, an Iron Giant?

It has to be either of those things! There’s no way a Servant would wear a mechanical suit, that looks like it belongs in an anime!

….Would they?

“The Demon Musashi, Mori Nagayoshi has answered your call! Eh? What’s this?” 

Swallowing, Caules watches as what he hopes is a Berserker class Servant, take off his helmet, attempting to ignore all of the cool sounds his armor is making as he does so.

“No shit, a kid summoned me?!” The Servant asks, his long scarlet hair draping over his shoulder, as he walks over to Caules. “Or did that guy over there summon me?”

“N-No.” Caules manages to say. “I summoned you. I am your Master. My name is Caules Forv-“

“A KID REALLY DID SUMMON ME?! Shit, I guess things could be worse. Your mana seems to be okay at least.”

Sighing, Caules decides it’s his turn to ask a question.

“What’s your class, Mori?”

“Oh that. Uhhhh….I think it’s Berserker? If I remember correctly. But that’s not important! What’s a kid like you, doing fighting in a Holy Grail War?”

“I’m not a kid, I’m a teenager.”

“So, a kid!”

Gods, why did he have to summon someone with this personality?!

“I am a strong mage in my own right.” Caules points out. “Otherwise, I would have not even been able to summon you. I promise you that together we can win this Holy Grail War.”

With an eyebrow raised, Mori points over at Darnic. “Mind telling me what’s the deal with that guy? I can tell the guy talking with him is a Servant too. Was he watching you summon me or something?”

“Huh? Oh, his name is Darnic. He’s the head of my family.”

Just as Caules was about to explain more about the Yggdmillennia family, Darnic lightly touches him on the shoulder.

“Congratulations. It seems your Summoning Ritual was successful.”

Nodding his head, Caules can’t help but notice Darnic’s Servant glaring at him, as if he is the worst person in the universe.

“Your summoning was successful too.”

“Of course! Did you manage to summon a Berserker?”

“Y-Yes. This is Mo-“

“I am the demon Musashi!” Mori interrupts, cutting Caules off. “Mind telling me who you are? And why there is another Servant here? Do you wish for me to cut him down, Master?!”

“No!” Caules exclaims. That’s the last thing he wants!

“I am your Masters family member. I mean you no harm.” Darnic tells the Berserker honestly. “We are working together in order to obtain the Holy Grail for our family. I am your ally.”

“Is that so? What about him then?” Mori asks, referring to the other Servant in the room.

“I do not like the way he is talking to me Darnic. Tell the kid to control his Servant, before I send him back to the Throne of Heroes from whence, he came.”  

This situation is getting out of hand, fast. Caules needs to defuse this situation, before the Servants either attack them both, or attack each other.

“Darnic-“

“This is Lucius Tiberius.” Darnic utters with a calmness to his voice. “He is of the Saber class, and will most certainly not harm you, or your Servant.”

“You just summoned me, and you dare to be insolent?!” Lucius questions, clenching his fist. “I already question your capabilities, as you are sending a child to the battlefield. Regardless if he is your family or not. On top of this, he summoned a lose cannon Berserker! Darnic, do you not see how this is already a less than ideal situation? I think I could do without your insolence, along with your shortcomings.”

“You give off the air of an emperor.” Mori comments, his eyes narrowing. “Whatever position you had when you were alive, doesn’t matter here. My Master may be a child, but he was skilled enough to summon someone as strong as myself. I would advise you to watch your mouth when you speak of my Master. Your own Master gives off shady vibes, but do you see me disrespecting him, like you did my Master?!”

_By calling Darnic “shady” you kind of just did disrespect him._ Caules thinks to himself, letting out a sigh.

“Lets all calm down.” Caules says, “We’re all working together, so let’s try to get along, okay?”

“I am in agreement with Caules. Saber, while I understand your worries, it is not your place to pass judgement on Caules so early.”

Let out an annoyed growl, Lucius begins to vanish. “I am removing myself from this situation. Call me when the child goes to bed, Darnic. I will not entertain foolishness like this.”

Once the arrogant Saber is fully into his Spirit form, Mori runs a hand through his hair.

“What an asshole.”

Exchanging a glance with Darnic Caules inwardly cringes.

Talk about starting off on the wrong foot.

* * *

“Thank you for taking me out to a café like this!” Tohsaka Rin’s Servant, Nefertari says sweetly.

Taking one more bite of her ice cream, Rin returns Nefertari’s sentiment.

“No, you’ve earned it, Nef. I’m glad I summoned you!”

Seriously, it’s only been two days since her…. accidental summoning, and she feels as if they’ve already bonded closely.

The Caster has helped her around the house, helped her organize her messy living space, and has even taught her how to cook a few dishes, preventing her from ordering so much take out.

“I’m so happy you feel that way, Rin! Truly I couldn’t be happier to be your Servant. I’m getting to experience things I never could when I was alive.”

As embarrassing as it is to admit, when she first summoned the Servant, she only heard her Servant’s true name in passing.  

The next morning, her and Nefertari went to the church first and reported her summoning, then they went straight to the library. All the while, the Caster kept asking why she just doesn’t use the internet.

Nefertari just giggled when she said she didn’t know how to use a computer.

_“You’re too cute Rin!”_ is what she said.

“What, like housework?” Rin teases, as she watches Nefertari eat the last bit of her waffle.

“Actually, yes! I never got to do any “wife” activities when I was alive. The palace had too many Servants. I never even got to nurse my own children!” Nefertari explains. “So, you see, I’m really happy that I’m getting to live as a “normal” person. Even if it’s just momentarily.”

“Did you like being queen?”

“Yes! Very much so! I care for my people more than anything. I ensured that they were happy at all times. I loved my husband, and our land. Though, I can’t lie to you and say that they weren’t times I didn’t wish to be just an everyday woman.”

That does make sense. Everyone feels that way sometimes. More often than not, every person at least once in their life, wishes to be in a different situation. That’s understandable.

However, there is one thing that’s bothering her.

What does someone as sweet as Nefertari, want from the Grail?

Maybe it’s too soon to ask, but she has to know. She can tell Nef what her wish on the Grail would be as well.

“Nefertari, can I ask you one more thing?”

“You don’t have to ask my permission! Of course, I’ll try to answer any question you have, to the best of my ability. We haven’t been together long, but you treat me the same way my own husband did. You remind me of him, in various ways.”

Heat rises to Rin cheeks. She quickly shakes that feeling away, regaining her composer.

“What’s your wish on the Grail?”

Complete silence.

“S-Sorry! If it’s too sudden, or you don’t want to answer, that’s fine! I was just curious so-“

“No, no! It’s okay! No need to apologize, I was just not expecting you to ask _that._ ”

“You don’t have to answer if you don’t want to Nef.”

“Excuse me! We’re closing in ten minutes!” A waiter calls.

Checking the clock, Rin realizes it’s ten P.M.

“We should get going. I’m not sure about you, but I would rather not get into any brawls with another Master tonight.” Rin whispers.

Nodding her head in agreement, Nefertari stands up, grabbing her coat.

“You’ve been really kind to me Master.” Nefertari starts, as Rin digs through her wallet, dropping just enough money to pay for their bill. “In exchange of your kindness, I’ll tell you my wish, once-“

Eyes widened; Rin barely catches Nefertari in time before she falls to the floor.

“Are you okay?!”

Bringing a hand to her face for a moment, Nefertari nods, standing back up.

“Forgive me. I-I think I just ate a little too much.”

“Here, hold my hand, I think I’ve pushed you a little too much today.” Rin says, holding out her left hand. “I don’t want you to pass out on me. At least you’ll be able to lean against me this way.”

“T-Thank you Rin.” Nefertari whispers.

“Come on, lets get you home.” Rin mutters, as they exit the small café together.

Looking around the streets, Rin notices how quiet they are. How dead it is.

They need to hurry home. Being out in the open like this isn’t smart, or good.

“Tohsaka Rin! It’s been awhile!”  A young boys voice calls from behind. “I haven’t seen you in quite a few years. If I remember correctly, your father was still alive at the time!”

She knows that voice. She hasn’t heard it a long time but….

Turning around, she sees a boy a few years younger than she is, a bit shorter than she is as well, with short blond hair. She also notices a much taller man standing next to him. One with spiky emerald hair.

“Leonardo Harway.”

“Rin, who is this boy?” Nefertari asks, moving even closer to her Master.

Leonardo B. Harway. Any mage with half of a brain knows about the family this boy belongs to.

They own damn near all of the world’s wealth after all.

_“I sense mana from the man next to that boy, Master.”_ Nefertari mutters in a barely audible voice.

“I’m very happy you remember me, Rin. I just landed in Japan last night, and you were the first person I wanted to seek out!”

“….Do I want to know why?”

“I think you know why. You were promised a spot in this great Holy Grail War, due to your family’s lineage.”

“And? You probably had to buy your way in. If you are just here to harass me, then I’ll be taking my leave now Harway.”

Shooting a glare at the older girl, the man next to Leonardo stands in front of him.

“Talking is all well and good, but we came here for one thing remember, Master?”

“That’s right.” Leonardo says. “Sorry Rin Tohsaka, but you’re too much of a threat to be allowed to continue in this Grail War.”

Before Rin can even tell Nefertari to run, she’s already standing in between her and the boys Servant.

“I’ll protect you Master.” The former queen of Egypt states, refusing to take here eyes off the male Servant. “No harm will come to you, on my name as Nefertari.”

* * *

“Is it too cold for you Master?” The King of Knights asks.

“No, it’s okay.” Hakuno tells Arthur, before sitting next to him, her back up leaning against the cold bricks of the rooftop.

No beating around the bush then.

“Master, there is something I need to tell you.” Arthur says, with his heart slightly beating harder.

“I’m listening, Arthur. You can tell me anything.” Hakuno promises the king.

“Truthfully Hakuno, I believe we need to separate ourselves from Gudako.”

“What? Why? Gudako is my friend, she’s done nothing wrong Arthur.”

He figured she would have such a reaction to his statement. It’s natural. He too would probably have the same reaction, if someone said such a statement about his own knights.

“Let me explain. It isn’t Gudako or Abigail that concerns me. To be frank, it’s Gilgamesh that is the problem. Master, that man will betray us at some point or another. I cannot trust him or his motives. You cannot tell me that if you said that you would run away with him, that he wouldn’t just abandon Gudako here in Neo-City.”

“But I’m not going to run away with Gilgamesh.” Hakuno counters. “I trust Gilgamesh. He was my Servant at one point. He saved me from death. We’ve traveled together, had adventures together. I can’t throw him under the bus like that, Arthur.”

“I understand that, but he’s attempting to control you Hakuno. He’s attempting to shape your thoughts and actions to suit his own entertainment. You don’t see it, but I do. The moment he sees an opportunity to advance his own goals, he will betray us.”

Hakuno can’t deny that is always in the back of her mind. He could kill both her and Gudako, and that would be well within his character.

Gilgamesh wouldn’t do that though.

“Gilgamesh is a…. personality. He’s moody, arrogant, and stubborn, but I don’t think he would betray us. I respect Gilgamesh, and he respects me.” Or at least she thinks he does. “I get where you’re coming from Arthur, but please trust me when I tell you that Gil would never intentionally hurt me.”

“He might not betray you Master, but he would betray me in a heartbeat.” Arthur counters, as Hakuno scoots closer to him.

Sighing, Hakuno admits something surprising. “I know.”

“You know?”

“He’s angry that I refuse to contract with him. He more than likely feels betrayed that I contracted to you, instead of him.”

“Hakuno…”

“I’m not blind to it. I try to get you both to get along but…” Shaking her head she continues. “I care about you both. You both have saved my life. I can’t contract with Gilgamesh, because Gudako needs him. Gudako needs someone strong to protect her. Abigail is strong, but not as strong as Gilgamesh. I want him to be a good Servant to her, for my sake, but he’s stubborn, and scoffs at that idea.”

“Master.” Arthur utters, using his right hand to tilt Hakuno’s chin up towards him. “I care about you as well. You treat me with more love and kindness than my own wife did when I was alive.”

Guinevere. The wife of King Arthur who ended up betraying him, for a knight of the Round Table, Lancelot.

“Arthur, you treat me with kindness too!”  She places a hand on his cheek, feeling how soft his skin is.

Love though….

Does she treat him with love? That thought never occurred to her.

Gods, but this awkward tension every time they’re alone together…

“Hakuno, I want to you rely on me more. I am your sword, your shield, your Servant. I am here to bring you victory, and keep you safe.”

This is wrong. He knows it, she knows it, but yet, he can’t stop himself as his face moves in closer to her.

“Rely on me too. I want to take care of you as well.” Hakuno whispers, her body leaning into his, her brown eyes instinctively closing.

With an arm wrapped around her, his lips meet hers. Her scent, cherry blossoms, floods his senses.

It was like the world stopped for them, the moment he kissed her. It was slow, careful, delicate. His left hand rested below her cheek, as Hakuno’s hands find their way to his back, pulling him closer to her, until she can feel his beating heart against her chest.

Pulling away for a moment, Arthur says Hakuno’s name once more. She has never heard her name called in that tone, in that needy way.

“I like you Hakuno.” Arthur confesses, as he continues to caress her cheek. “On my honor as King Arthur, I swear to you I have never felt this way about another human being. I don’t understand it, but it feels as if we were destined to meet.”

And there are those honeyed words.

She doesn’t need that. She doesn’t need to hear flowery words, or promises, she’s heard all of those things before.

All she needs right now is to feel his lips on her own one more time.

“I like you too Arthur.”  Hakuno utters, leaning in for another kiss.

And Arthur is more than happy to give into her wants.


	8. The Clock Tower

_“Next stop is Tokyo. Please make sure you have all of your belongings, as you step off of the train.”_

“Gray, wake up, we’re almost there.” The mage from the clock tower, Waver Velvet says, shaking his apprentice awake. 

“Mm. Already?” Gray whines, her light green eyes blinking around. “I feel like I just fell asleep…”

Checking his phone, Waver scowls. “Unfortunately, we have to hurry. We’re already ten minutes behind schedule, thanks to the train delay.”

“Didn’t you say the mage association reserved an apartment for us?” Gray asks, stretching.

 _“It’ll probably be as small as a closet!”_ A voice coming from Gray’s bag teases.

“Add!” Gray hisses. “Please, be quiet, we can’t let anyone hear you!”

“They did. They already provided the materials, and a safe spot to perform a summoning ritual as well.” Waver explains, picking up his backpack, and throwing it over his shoulder. "I would have much rather performed the ritual at the Clock Tower, but beggars can’t be choosy I guess.”

Gray too stands up, grabbing a small suitcase. “Are you sure you still want to do this? I can do the summon ritual in-“

“No. I must do this.” Waver quickly responds. “Gray, you know how much this means to me.”

He almost fell over when he heard the news, in fact.

_“Big brother!~” An annoying voice calls. “I have a visitor for you!”_

_Sighing, Waver sits the paperwork he was working on down, moving to open his office door._

_There’s only one person who has that voice. Reines El-Melloi Archisorte._

_What trouble did she bring with her this time?_

_Opening the door, his eyes widen at whose waiting for him._

_One Barthomeloi Lorelei._

_….And Kischur Zelretch Schweinorg._

_Reines giggles, heading inside of his office. “Your reaction was exactly what I was hoping for!”_

_“Sorry to disturb you El-Melloi.” Lorelei says, a small smile present on her face._

_“It’s nice to finally meet you.” Zelretch introduces himself, shaking Waver’s hand. “I’ve heard stories about you, but it’s nice to meet you.”_

_“What do I owe this pleasure? It isn’t every day both Wizard Marshalls’ are together, in the clock tower no less.”_

_“Come sit next to me!” Reines demands, grabbing Wavers hand, damn near dragging him to the nearby couch._

_“H-Here, have a seat.” Waver offers, motioning to two chairs._

_As Lorelei sits down, Zelretch begins to speak. “I’ll cut to the chase El-Melloi; we don’t have much time before your flight leaves.”_

_“What?” Waver questions, as Reines gives him a light shove, so that he sits next to her._

_“We have an opportunity for you.” Lorelei chimes in._

_“And that would be?”_

_“The Grail has been spotted in Tokyo, Japan.” Lorelei begins. “As you know, the Holy Grail hasn’t been spotted anywhere in the world, in five-hundred years. It was found in Tokyo about a month ago. Since then, we’ve hastily thrown together a Holy Grail War, with the help of the Church.”_

_“We’ve decided to open up the Grail War to Fifteen mages.” Zelretch tells Waver, crossing his legs. “Orlando Reeve, Darnic and Caules Yggmilennia have already landed in Japan. It’s safe to say they’ve been chosen by the Grail.”_

_“There is another concerning piece of information as well. There are rumors that someone from the Animusphere family has been chosen by the Grail.” Lorelei adds._

_“Forgive me for my rudeness, but I fail to see how this has anything to do with me.” Wave confesses. “Why come here, and proceed to tell me about a Grail War?”_

_“We want you to win the Holy Grail War for the Clock Tower.” Zelretch states plainly. “You’ve had experience in a False Holy Grail War, in which the previous El-Melloi was killed in.”_

_Cursing internally, Waver asks another question. “Why not have Reines go?”_

_With a fake gasp, Reines lightly hits Waver. “Big brother, you hurt me with those words! You’d rather have **me** go die in a senseless Holy Grail War?!”_

_So, she just doesn’t want to go then. Got it._

_“We cannot allow a backwoods American or a Japanese mage to win this Grail War, Melloi. The Tohsaka, and Matou families are automatically offered a place in any Holy Grail War.” Lorelei crosses her arms. “We have a catalyst ready for you, El-Melloi, and your apprentice, is packing your luggage.”_

_They bullied Gray into this, just as they’re bullying him into participating?!_

_“And what makes you both so sure that I will say yes? I see no reason for me to participate, other than glory for my family, which is needed.”_

_“Waver!” Reines whines._

_“I thought you might say that.” Zelretech mummers, reaching into his pocket, and pulling out a small box._

_No…_

_They wouldn’t._

_“We have leverage.” Zelretch says, his friendly tone turned serious. “We have the catalyst you used in the Fake Holy Grail War, to summon Alexander the Great.”_

_With his eyes narrowing, Waver realizes something very quickly._

_He’s being blackmailed into doing this._

_“I see. I understand the situation now.” Waver utters in a monotone voice. “Am I going to get to use that as my catalyst at least?”_

_Shaking her head no, Lorelei takes the piece of fabric from Zelretch. “You failed with this Servant once before. What makes you think you can win a Holy Grail War with the exact same Servant, you lost with?”_

_Clenching his fist slightly, he opens his mouth to speak, but is cut off by Reines._

_“He’ll do it. Not for free however. A piece of ancient cloth isn’t much of an incentive for me to send my older brother to die.”_

_“I agree with you, Miss Melloi.” Zelretch said, taking the piece of cloth back from Lorelei, carefully putting it back into its box. “The El-Melloi family is in quite a large amount of debt, correct? If Lord El-Melloi is successful in bringing us the Grail, I will personally pay off any debt your family owes.”_

_That was all Reines needed to hear._

“I know… I’m just trying to help you.” Gray states, running in order to catch up with Waver.

“You being here is helpful enough for me. Between the two of us, I think we can win this.”

“I think so too!” Gray says in agreement, stepping off the train, taking a look around the train station. “Japan is so different. In England trains would’ve stopped running by now…”

“Which reminds me, we need to find somewhere to buy cigars in the morning.”

“Are you sure that we’ll be able to get into the apartment this late? It’s one A.M.”

“I was told by Reines, that the key to the apartment will be waiting for us at the place where I will perform the summoning ritual.” Waver explains, heading up the stairs, and out of the train station, taking in the fresh air of his new surroundings.

“Where are we going to do the summoning ritual at?”

 _“A back ally? In a field somewhere? Or somewhere really inconvenient?”_  Add excitedly asks, in his usual mocking tone.  

“It’s a parking garage.” Waver tells Gray, ignoring Add. “It isn’t far from here either. Let’s go get this over with.”

Nodding her head, she follows Waver.

No harm will come to this man, as long as she’s around.

* * *

“Ramses! Wait for me!” Moses exclaims.

“Hurry, I sense something.” The Rider urges. “We’ll lose them if we don’t hurry!”

Lose who? What in the hell is he on about?

“Do you sense a Servant? Ramses, we shouldn’t be getting involved in a fight right now.”

Slowing down, Ozymandias lets out an annoyed sigh, turning around and facing Moses.

He’ll complain about this but, right now he can’t afford to stand around and listen to Moses trying to be reasonable. So, he does the exact same thing he did as a child, when he was trying to have some fun, and Moses was being a stick in the mud.

He picks the Caster up.

“R-RAMSES! PUT ME DOWN THIS INSTANT!” Moses yells, kicking the pharaoh.

“You’ll have to get stronger if you want to hurt me with physical attacks, Moses.” Ozymandias teases, picking up his speed. “Be quiet, and be happy that I think you worthy enough to be carried by Ra himself!”

“Yeah, yeah. Last time I checked; couldn’t Ra take the shape of a bird? Maybe you should transform into a Bennu and fly to wherever the hell you wanna go.”

A loud laugh emits from the pharaoh.  

“Fool, you are the Caster here! Perhaps you should be doing the transforming here!” 

Why is he in such a hurry? Did he spot a woman? Moses wouldn’t put it past Ozymandias to chase after a beautiful woman. He did it more times than he can count, when he was still living in Egypt as an adolescent.

Huffing, Moses sits still for a moment, allowing the pharaoh to carry him.

Closing his eyes, he focuses his breathing.

That’s when he senses it.

Goosebumps appear on his skin, his eyes open, he turns his head around just enough so that he can see what’s head of the pair.

Two Servants, and two Masters.

One a tall emerald hair Servant, standing in front of a young boy. Moses assumes that’s his Master.

The other…he can make out a raven-haired girl, and…

No, that can’t be. His eyes are playing tricks on him.

“Ramses, please tell me you’re seeing what I’m seeing.”

Finally, the Rider sits Moses down onto the ground.

“I see her too. And you must sense the same thing I do then. At the very least, you notice that something is very wrong here, brother.”

Aside from the Brunette in front of the being a Servant, there is something else off here too.

She’s going head to head with a Servant. 

“Nefertari…” Moses whispers. “Ramses, we have to help her! There’s no way that she can handle that person on her own.”

“I’m glad me and you are on the same page here. Let us go rescue my wife, brother!”

Nodding his head, Moses summons a rod, one that was created by godly hands, made from sapphire wood.

He’s going to save his good friend, and his brothers wife.

 _It’s as if something snapped inside of her Servant_ , Tohsaka Rin thinks to herself, as soon as Leo’s Servant lunged for Nefertari.

Her mana went off the charts. Rin pretty sure every Servant in the city can sense Nefertari.

Her Caster Servant uttered something in a language she couldn’t understand, and a barrier stood between Nefertari and the male Servant.

“Stay away!” Nefertari hisses, “I won’t hesitate to kill you!” 

Rin eyes widen. There’s no way someone like Nefertari would threaten someone like that. She almost cried when she had to kill a spider in her home, this morning, and now she’s threatening to kill another Servant.

“Caster.” Rin calls.

“Stay back! I’ll protect you with my own two hands, this man will not harm you!”

“Lil lady, you’re biting off more than you can chew.” Achilles tells the woman, his spear hitting the magical barrier. “See? Your magic trick is vanishing as quickly as it appeared. Allow me to kill you, and no harm will come to your Master.”

“No. I’ve lost too many people to those exact same words before, I won’t fall for them again!” Nefertari exclaims, using her right hand to shoot a burst of magic at the Rider.

Jumping back, Achilles sighs annoyedly. “You’re making this harder on yourself!”

“Stop playing around, Rider. Kill them.” Leo orders.

“And you’re making my job harder….”

“Oh? What’s this? Two mages battling out in the opening? Brother, what is this madness? Does this man wish to be an easy target?!” A deep voice mocks from behind Achilles and his Master.

Cursing, Achilles turns around, only to be face with two men. One a dark-haired man with an arrogant demeanor, the other has to be a teenager, if Achilles has to guess.

…. Appearances aside, there’s no doubt in Achilles mind, that they are also Servants. Powerful ones at that.

Without hesitation, Moses points his staff in the direction of Achilles. “Leave those two girls alone. Or better yet, you and your Master leave the area _now.”_

Laughing, Leo stands extremely close to Achilles.

“And who are you two to make demands’? Where are your Masters? Surly they have to be quite stupid to allow you two out on you own.”

“ _Leave._ ” Ozymandias urges, crossing his arms. “You are outnumbered, and you’re touching something that you have no idea the value of.”

Holding her breath, Rin reaches out to grab her Servant’s hand.

“R-Ramses….? Moses…?” Nefertari whispers, her eyes softening.

…Slowly, her mana levels are returning to normal, Rin notices.

“Come on Caster, let’s go while they’re distracted.”

“N-No! Master, please! I want to stay here, I want to-“

Before she can finish her thoughts, she falls against her Master, her eyes growing heavy.

“Caster!” Rin exclaims, dammit. This is bad. Really bad. She’s a sitting duck, in between three Servants.

“Master, I believe we should go. Even someone like me would have trouble taking on three Servants at the same time.” Achilles mutters, to which Leo lets out an annoyed sigh, looking over at Rin.

“You’re lucky these two nobodies came to save you. You won’t be so lucky next time, Tohsaka.”

“I’ll look forward to fighting you two.” Achilles says with a grin on his face. “You at least.” Pointing at Ozymandias. “Look like you would put up a good fight against me.”

With that, Achilles picks up his Master effortlessly, and takes off running.

Moses begins to charge an attack, with his staff, but the Master and Servant pair are already out of sight within a few seconds.

“Damn, he’s fast.” Moses complains, lowering his staff.

Rin locks eyes with the Rider, swallowing a bit.

“Are you her Master?” Ozymandias asks, bending down so that he’s at eye level with the female mage. “Fear not, we won’t hurt you.”

What a shitty situation. If she lies, there is a very likely chance that these two Servants will kill her.

She has no choice but to be honest.

“Yes. My name is Tohsaka Rin, and I am her Master. May I ask who you two are?”  

“My name is Ramses. This is my brother Moses. You seemed to have summoned my wife, Nefertari…now, let’s get you somewhere safe.”

* * *

Matou Sakura takes a deep breath, staring at the Command Spells on her wrist.

A week ago, all of her family left Japan, including her adopted brother, with all of his whining. 

Leaving her all by herself, with nothing but threats of what will happen to her if she doesn’t win the Grail for her family.

She shutters to even think about the words Shinji uttered to her. Though, in the back of her mind she’s one-hundred percent sure she’ll be disowned if she loses.

Still, to the best of her ability, she completed the Summoning Ritual, just as she was taught.

She used the catalyst that her grandfather gave her.

Apparently, the Archaeology team at the Clock Tower worked very hard to retrieve this item for their family, and on such a short notice too.

A piece of the bow used by the great hero of the Bhagavad Gita, Arjuna.

She was supposed to summon and Archer, and yet….

And yet, why is this little girl standing in front of her?! More importantly, why does she look almost identical to Sakura, when she was a child?!

“Hello.” The Servant softly speaks. “My true name is Kama, the god of love! Oh, and my class is Assassin! It’s very nice to meet you, Master!”  
…This can’t be real life can it?

She trained so hard for this Grail War, only to summon a child.

What a failure of a Master she is.

“I-It’s nice to meet you too.” Sakura says just as softly. “My name is Sakura, I’m your Master.”

“You look upset, Master.” Kama notices, jogging up to her new Master. “Am I not who you wanted to summon?”

“U-Um, to be honest, I was hoping for Arjuna…”

“Hah! I’m much better than Arjuna Sakura!” Kama tells Sakura, her red eyes meeting Sakura’s. “In fact, it’s better than you summoned me! I have a much better personality than that gloomy guy! At least I can help you win the Grail.”

“You can?”

Raising an eyebrow, Kama stands on her tiptoes, so that she can get a closer look at her Master.

“What do mean? Of course, I can help you win the Grail! I can also help you get rid of that sad expression on your face too! Where is this place? Your home? If so, show me around. If not, show me around anyway! Let’s get out of this dark room, and get to know each other better, Master!”

Suddenly, she feels Kama tugging on her hand, urging her to show her the way out of the basement where she summoned her.

“O-Okay, alright, let’s go Kama.”

“Yay!~ See, I knew I’m already breaking out of your self-imposed cocoon, and we’ve only known each other for five minutes!”

Giggling, Sakura leads Kama up the stairs, out of the basement.

However….she still can’t wrap her head around who, or what she’s just summoned. 

Can she truly win this war with a young girl?

She’ll have to try, at least.

That’s all she can do after all.

* * *

As quietly as she can, Kishinami Hakuno opens the door to Arthur’s bedroom door.

Checking her phone, she notices the time.

Two A.M.

They were out there for too long doing…

Her face heats up just thinking about it.

They didn’t do anything lewd. The only kissed….

For an hour straight.

_“Hakuno, everything I told you is true. I like you. Only you. Let’s rely on each other more. For now, I do not believe it’s wise to tell Gilgamesh what happened up here. I will protect you, and care for you with everything I have Hakuno. The last time I was summoned in a Grail War like this, I didn’t know my purpose. My reasoning was clouded. This time is different. This time, I believe my purpose is to protect and care for you. I think it was destined for us to meet, Master.”_

Gods, her head is swimming.

It’s true that she does like Arthur but…

She cares for Gilgamesh too.

There is one thing she can agree with Arthur about, and that’s Gilgamesh cannot know what they did on that rooftop.

Just thinking about what Gilgamesh would do, if he knew that they kissed is causing her a headache.

That’s why she suggested that she enter Arthur’s room first, with Arthur following behind a few minutes later.

It would look suspicious if they went to bed at the same time together. After all, the Archer did take up residence in Arthur’s room.

She closes the door behind her as softly as possible, as to not wake Gilgamesh up.

 _She hasn’t done anything wrong._ Hakuno thinks to herself, as she takes off her socks, taking a deep breath as she looks at the sleeping golden king.

Her and Gilgamesh aren’t in a relationship. She has nothing to feel guilty about.

If anything, they are just two people who respect each other.

…And sometimes cuddle. That’s all.

Yet, she still feels bad. As if she’s betrayed Gilgamesh in some way.

Shaking her head in an attempt to get rid of all of these thoughts swimming in her head, she finally gets into the bed with the Archer.

“Hakuno…?” A sheepish voice asks.

“It’s me, don’t worry.” Hakuno whispers, scooting closer to Gilgamesh.

“I was going to have a lot of questions if it was that idiot knight.” He grumbles, still half asleep, taking her hand and intertwining it with his own.

“What’s so bad about Arthur?” 

“I don’t want to have this conversation right now, woman.”

“No, honestly, what is your issue with him? Why do you dislike him so much?”

“He’s a hypocrite, Hakuno.” Gilgamesh simply states yawning. “You’ll see soon enough. He’s putting on a show for you now. Attempting to sway both you and Gudako with honeyed words. My eyes see through his act.”

Hakuno doesn’t believe that at all. All Gilgamesh is doing is letting his hate for Arthur blind him to the truth, and that truth is Arthur has been very helpful to them. He wouldn’t lie or hurt them at all.

Nor would Gilgamesh.

Wordlessly, she cuddles closer to the king, sighing.

“What is the matter? Did the Saber say something to make you upset?” Gilgamesh questions, turning around to face his former Master.

“Just tired. Today was a long day.” Hakuno states honestly.

“Shall I relieve you of some of your stress Master?” Bringing his face closer to hers, Hakuno realizes that she should’ve just went to sleep.

“W-What?”

Even with how dark it is in this room; she swears she can see him smirk.

With a laugh, he the arrogant king presses his lips against her own.

Her whole-body freezes, as his mouth moves against hers.

Arthur gives, while this man takes. Arthur kisses her gently with care, Gilgamesh kisses for pleasure and amusement.

“Can’t you see that she doesn’t enjoy whatever your doing to her?” The owner of this room’s voice says, pushing Gilgamesh’s hands away from Hakuno’s person.

“How dare you put your filthy hands on me, knight!” Gilgamesh exclaims, glaring at the Saber.

“I suppose we’re both putting our hands where they don’t belong then.” Arthur shoots back, crawling into his bed. “There’s a couch in the living room. Go sleep there.”

“And leave you alone with my Master? I don’t think so.”

“Last time I checked, Gudako is your Master.”

“Contractor.”

“Same thing king.”

Hakuno can swear she could cut the tension in this room with a knife.

“You are Hakuno’s Servant, this is true.” Gilgamesh muses, pulling Hakuno close to his person. “However, you are nothing more than her familiar. Know your place, King of Knights.”

Once more, the King of Heroes mouth is on Hakunos, causing Arthur to frown.

Gilgamesh wants a reaction out of him.

He knows this….but he can’t let the sight in front of him continue.

Reaching over, he gives the annoying Archer a hard shove, pushing him off of Hakuno.

“I’ll tell you again, Hakuno obviously doesn’t want to kiss you right now. One look at her face should tell you that much. Think of someone other than yourself for a change.”

“Oh? So, you speak for her now do you?” Gilgamesh questions, a small golden gate opening above his shoulder.

“Gil, Arthur, stop!” Hakuno exclaims, placing her hand on both of their chests. “Please, I just want to sleep, can’t you two just get along for a few hours at least?!”

“Hakuno, this man has pushed me to my limits, I cannot-“

Stopping mid-sentence, Gilgamesh looks out at the city.

He felt something just now…

Something unmistakable.

Almost jumping out of bed, he grabs his coat from the floor.

“You running away from an argument then?” Arthur interrogates Gilgamesh. “An argument you started at that?”

Ignoring Arthur, he locks eyes with Hakuno.

“Come with me Hakuno, I sense something.”

Raising an eyebrow, Hakuno notices the look on Gilgamesh’s face.

“Why?” Hakuno questions.

“I told you woman; I sense something. We are wasting time by sitting here! I do not care if the Saber comes with us or not, but you must go with me.”

Arthur exchanges a glance with Hakuno. Don’t tell him she’s actually considering going with him?! At this hour?!

“Is it truly that important?”

“Do you need to ask?”

Sighing, Hakuno crawls out of bed, leaving Arthur a bit stunned.

“Please tell me this won’t take long.” Hakuno pleas.

“Wake Gudako up as well.” Gilgamesh simply urges, walking out of Arthur’s bedroom.

* * *

 _“As if they couldn’t give you a smaller summoning space!”_ Add mocks, as Waver sighs, putting his cigar out.

“No kidding.”  Waver mutters, looking around the area. They were told to summon in this particular parking garage but…

Fuck, it’s more like a small parking lot. Extremely small.

“At least it’s hidden…” Gray points out, smiling up at Waver.

“I suppose so.” Waver mummers, looking over at the caged chicken. “The association has provided us with everything we need to summon as well. Aren’t we lucky?”

“Shall I kill it?” Gray offers, to which Waver nods his head.

“Alright, I’ll prepare the summon circle.”

While Gray kills the animal, Waver pulls out the small package that was waiting for them as soon as they entered the parking lot.

This must be his catalyst.

Unwrapping the package, he comes across a small note.

“ _Dear Lord El-Melloi II, what you see in front of you, is none other than the bones of the Bull of Heaven, **Gugalanna.** We here in the archaeology department have worked tirelessly, to provide you with a suitable catalyst for your summoning, according to Lorelei’s wishes. Please, do not let us down.” - **Aozaki Touko.**_

Bull of Heaven? The hell? There’s only one Bull of Heaven he’s heard of, and that’s from the _Epic of Gilgamesh._

….This has to be some sort of cruel joke right?

He’s _not_ summoning Gilgamesh.

Gods, no. Not after what he did to his previous Servant, Iskandar.

Fate is cruel.

“Sir, the chicken’s blood has been drained according to your wishes.” Gray states proudly.

Nodding his head, he moves over beginning to set up the summoning circle properly with Gray’s help.

_If there’s any god watching over him, please don’t let him summon that man._

There’s no way he’ll win the Grail War otherwise. He would have Gray kill him herself.

“What was the Catalyst the archology department sent you, Master?”

“Bones.”

“Bones?”

“From some divine being.”

“Oh.” Spreading the blood out across the pavement, she asks another question. “Any idea who it might be related to? What legend it’s from?”

“We’re about to find out.” Waver tells Gray, removing his now dirty gloves, and pulling out a small knife from his coat pocket.

“Are you nervous?”

Unsheathing the blade, he nicks himself just enough, so that a few drops fall onto the summoning circle.

“No. I feel more at ease when you’re here with me, Gray.”

At those words, Gray pulls her hood over her face.

“ _Let’s get this shitshow on the road, before sunrise please!”_ Add jokes.

“Add, please be quiet!”

No, the Mystic Code is right. They do need to get a move on. There’s no telling how many other Masters have already summoned. Which means there could be Servants walking around freely.

Not to mention he’s tired.

How many years has it been since he’s done this? He was a child the last time he attempted a summoning…

Pushing his nostalgic feeling aside, the Lord holds up his right hand and begins the summoning chant.

In just a few short moments, the circle lights up, much to Gray’s amazement.

_“This is your first time seeing a summoning, kid?”_

“Yes.”

_“This is how heroic spirits are summoned. No doubt King Arthur could be summoned in the same manner.”_

…Gray doesn’t like that thought.

Still, she’s taken aback by this whole process, as gusts of wind blow past her. She knew her Master was strong, but it takes a highly skilled mage just to be able to pull off a ritual like this.

As the dust around them settles, Gray manages to catch a glimpse of a few marks on….his neck?

Are those wings?

Looking over in the direction of the summoning circle, the once empty space is now occupied by a Servant. A man…or is that a woman?

A slender figure, hair the color of springtime: green, and light green eyes to match the persons hair.

“Lancer class Servant, Enkidu! I have started up at your call.”

Waver’s eyes narrow.

This has to be a joke, right?


	9. Good Intentions, Bad Execution

“God, talk about not missing leg day!” Gudako exclaims in a whiny tone, struggling to keep up with Hakuno, and her Servant Arthur.

“If I was stronger Master, I would be able to carry you…” Abigail tells her Master.

“You’re trying to your best Abigail, it’s not your fault.” Gudako glances over at Hakuno. “It’s Gilgamesh’s fault. Hakuno, what the hell is this about?! It’s damn near four in the morning, we should be _sleeping,_ not running around Tokyo, like a group of deranged people.”

“I’m not sure.” Hakuno says honestly, gripping Arthur’s hand tighter. “He said he sensed something, and that we should follow him.”

“ _I_ think we should turn around a go back home.” Arthur complains. “This is foolish. What if another Master sees us? Neither you, nor lady Gudako is ready for another fight so soon.”

“The least he could’ve done was led the way, to wherever he’s going!” Gudako points out. “He just said “you’ll know where to go, trust me,” and then he dipped, before any of us were ready to go!”

Something’s up. Gilgamesh wouldn’t just dash out the door without a reason, Hakuno is for sure of that.

“We should at least follow up on whatever he sensed. Maybe he sensed something, that will lead us to the cause of this singularity?” Hakuno suggests.

“I highly doubt that.” Arthur says with no hesitation. “You put far too much faith in him, Master.”

Maybe, but she still feels that this isn’t a waste of time.

“Can you sense him, Gudako?”

The younger Master squints her eyes a bit before responding, as if that will help her sense the Archer.

“A little.” Gudako admits. “Just barely though. I think it’s this way.” Gudako says, pointing to the west of them.

“Then let’s go that way then!” To which Arthur reluctantly agrees.

“Lets hurry, before that man tears the whole city apart.”

* * *

“Papa, let me come to Japan with you!” A pre-teen girl, with snow white hair begs.

Marisbury Animusphere, looks out the window, only to see snow, before turning to his young daughter.

“I cannot allow you to come with me to Japan, Olga.” The mage simply states. “You are going to the Clock Tower, remember?”

Huffing annoyedly, Olga crosses her arms.

 “But, Kirschtaria is getting to go with you! That’s not fair!” Olga complains. “He’s supposed to be at the Clock Tower too!”

Sighing, Marisbury bends down so that he’s at eye level with his daughter.

“How about this? How about we go somewhere special once I return from Japan? Just the two of us?”

Her eyes widen for a split second, before she regains her composure.

“You always promise me that.” Olga says. “And you never follow through!”

“I promise that we’ll go anywhere you want, Olga.” Marisbury promises once more, reaching out and patting Olga’s head.

“Then I want lots of candy from Japan too!” Olga tells her father; skepticism still present in her voice.

“Master, the summoning circle is ready.” A husky voice utters from behind Marisbury.

“Kirschtaria, how come you get to go with papa to Japan?! I want to go with him too!”

The young adult simply shrugs, his long blond hair hanging over his right shoulder.

“I have been granted an allowance. I’ll bring you back some merchandise of that anime you like, which one was it again? Sailor Moon?”

And just like that, Olga’s face turns bright red.

“S-Stop teasing me about that already!!” Olga exclaims, stomping her foot. “Just because you caught me watching anime ONE time-“

“So, you admit it now, do you?” Kirschtaria teases.

“Papaaaaa tell him to quit it! He’s not even my real brother, why’d you take him on as your apprentice, anyways?!”

“Quit arguing.” Marisbury orders. “Both of you.”

“Forgive me Master.” Krischtaria pleas, bowing slightly. “As I said before, I have prepared the summoning circle. As soon as you are ready, we can begin the summoning ritual.”

“Olga, please be good for Trisha. She should be on her way here now, to take you to the Clock Tower.”

With a small sigh, and giving her father a small smile, she nods her head.

“Please, be careful papa.” Olga pleas. “Krischtaria, you had better take care of my father, or I’ll disown you myself.” She threatens.

“Of course. Far be it for me to upset you, Olga.” Krischtaria shoots back.

“ _Please.”_ Marisbury hisses. Honestly, these two argue worse than biological siblings do.

“Fine, fine. Good luck in Japan, papa. Please, call me when you get there.” Olga reminds her father, hugging him, before sauntering off.

“We must hurry Master.” Krischtaria tells the older mage. “It’s almost the height of your magical energy. Now is the perfect time to summon.”

Wordlessly, Marisbury leads the way to a secluded part of the Lords mansion, opening the door to reveal the summoning circle set up in the middle of the empty room.

“What was this room used for, if I may ask, Master?” Krischtaria asks, his blue eyes scanning the room.

“It was originally going to be a room for a second child.” Marisbury says, pulling a piece of cloth out of his right pocket. “But, as you can see, that never happened. You’re as close to a son as I’ll ever get.”

“It touches my heart, that you think of me so.” Krischtaria teases Marisbury.

“Maybe I should’ve taken Olga with me instead…” Marisbury mummers.

“Point taken.” Krischtaria replies, stuffing his hands inside of his pockets. “Who are we summoning anyways? Someone strong, I hope. Didn’t you say that the Yggdmillennia family landed in Japan last night? Surly they were given a good catalyst from the Association themselves.”

“Not to worry, for we too, have an ace in the hole so to speak.” Marisbury reminds his young apprentice, unwrapping the white cloth carefully, and holding up the object kept inside up to the dim light.

A gold ring. If Krischtaria didn’t know any better, he would assume that it was just a regular wedding band.

“And where did you happen to find that, Master?” Krischtaria asks, moving next to Marisbury, in order to take a closer look at the object. “And who is it supposed to belong to?”

“It’s a family heirloom.” Marisbury admits. “What do you know about king Solomon?”

“From the bible?”

“Yes.”

“A little bit. Can’t say my family were avid church goers. He was the one that was going to cut that baby in half, right?”

“Correct.”

“He controlled demons too, I head through his rings. I’m assuming that is one of the rings he used to control said demons.”

“It is.” Marisbury confirms, carefully placing the gold laden ring in the middle of the summoning circle.

“We’re going to summon king Solomon, Krischtaria.” Marisbury explains. “If I’m right, then we can end this Grail War by the end of next week.”

* * *

“My house is up ahead.” Tohsaka Rin tells the two Servants that have been following her.

What a bizarre turn of events. Two Servants obviously without their Master present, willing and wanting to help her get her own Servant home, and not taking no for an answer.

“You live a bit away from the city.” The golden pharaoh comments. “Do you have a lot of neighbors?”

“Not really. Just a few.” Rin replies, looking back at the fast-asleep Caster, Nefertari.

“How is she doing,” Ah, what was this Servant’s True Name again? “Moses?”

Yeah, that sounds about right. At least it’s not something complicated like the other guys True Name.

Ozymandias, or rather, Ramses II.

Her Servants husband.

“She’s sleeping soundly.” Moses tells Rin, as he holds Nefertari closer to his body. “Rin, did you too feel that spike in mana as we were fighting that Servant earlier?”

She did.

It wasn’t normal, that much she is for sure of. Neftertari is a Caster sure, but her mana levels usually aren’t that high…

Maybe she has a skill that she hasn’t told her about?

“I did.” Rin replies, digging through her pockets in order to find her house keys. “That’s my problem to worry about though. Won’t your Master get upset that you’ve both been away from them this long?”

“And that is our problem to worry about.” Ozymandias counters, placing a hand on Rin’s shoulders. “Little Master, you are my Nefertari’s Master. It is obvious that you are taking care of her the best you can. She is clothed, well fed, and judging by the neighborhood, she lives in a relatively safe area. It was Ra that guided my wife to you.”

…..Does this man have high ranking charisma or something?

“Which is why we should at least make sure you get home safe.” Moses chimes in. “Even if we are enemies for the moment, it doesn’t have to stay that way.”

“My brother is correct!” Ozymandias exclaims loudly, his voice booming through the empty street. “I could talk our Master into an alliance with you. It would benefit both of us. Modern day or not, mages still like to stick together, no?”

….Not exactly. A talented mage she may be, her family isn’t that well liked among other mages. Mostly due to her ethnicity, and her headstrong personality.

Still, this may be a good opportunity to knock a Master out of this Grail War if nothing else. 

And take out two Servants along with the Master.

“You sure you can make that happen?” Rin asks, looking up at Ozymandias.

“As sure as the sun rising.” Ozymandias responds, a small smile present on the pharaohs face.

“Moses, I’ll take Neftertari from here.” Rin offers, holding out her arms.

“I can take her to your house at least.” Moses offers, to which Rin shakes her head.

“Sorry, I can’t let you see exactly where I live.” Rin points out. “Not that I don’t trust you both, it’s a little extra insurance for me, you know? It’s your Master that I don’t trust.”

The Caster doesn’t blame the female Master. Not one bit. Truth be told, he doesn’t trust his Master either.

Orlando Reeve is a strong magus. However, he’s sketchy. As they both speak to this young mage, their Master is setting up living arrangements for his private police force: **Clan Calatin.** From what Moses understood, the last of his force is arriving in the morning.

Orlando won’t sit around much longer. Even Ozymandias has to be aware of this fact.

“We can at least see if our Master is open to any alliances.” Moses offers, carefully handing off Nefertari to Rin.

“Moses!” Ozymandias hisses.

“It’s understandable that she doesn’t want us to see where she lives, brother.” Moses reminds Ramses. “Do you think our Master would want us to lead another Servant, to where we’re staying?”

Good point. That’s reasonable, now that the King of Kings thinks about it.

“Fine.” Ramses concedes, waving his hand. “Rin, shall we meet somewhere in, ah, let’s say two days’ time? That should give us enough time to meet with our own Master.”

And that should give her enough time to figure out a game plan. It should give her enough time to research why Neftertari’s mana spiked so heavily in battle.

“That sounds good. We should meet somewhere publicly. How about in town? We can decide where to go after that.” Rin explains, shifting her weight around just a bit, as to not drop the woman in her arms.

“It’s a promise then.” Ozymandias states.

A plan it may be, but there is an uneasiness in Moses stomach, that tells him this might not be such a good idea.

Not that Ramses will listen to him however.

* * *

Looking over at his father, Kiritsugu Emiya, the teenage boy looks down at the red tattoo on his right hand.

That sure as hell wasn’t there last night.

“…How did you get that, Shirou?” Kiritsugu asks, grabbing the boy’s hand, and examining it.

“I have no idea!” Shirou promises. “It was there when I woke up this morning!”

“Fuck.” Kiritsugu mutters, earning a “stop cursing” from his adopted son.

“The grail fucked up.” Kiritsugu tells Shirou, pulling a box of cigarettes from his pocket, and taking one out.

“It’s seven A.M! It’s too early for you to be smoking. Besides, didn’t you say you were going to quit smoking anyways?” Shirou questions, before staring down at the strange marks on his hand.

“Grail?” The hell is Kiritsugu on about? He’s never heard him say that word before.

These marks must have something to do with magecraft. This obviously isn’t normal. Not at all!

“That was before those command seals appeared on the wrong persons body.”

“Huh?” His father isn’t making sense!

Taking the cigarette, and lighting it, the mage killer takes a drag off it, before responding.

“I told you about the war I fought in, Shirou didn’t I?”

“The one with the heroic spirits? Yeah, you told me all about that. Multiple times. How you and your Servant defeated the golden king, only to find that the reward wasn’t real. Which is why you can’t see your real daugh-“

“Right. The reward was the Grail. In simple terms, it’s the Holy Grail. A wish granter. According to the Mage Associations records, the actual Holy Grail hasn’t been seen in over five hundred years.” Kiritsugu begins to explain, sitting down, on the floor. “There has been fake Holy Grail Wars throughout the years, I participated in one such fake Grail War.”

Holy Grail…

Wish granter….

Ah, this is too much to think about all at once!

“Supposedly the “real” Holy Grail has been found in Tokyo. The association, or rather the Grail is opening a spot to fifteen Masters, for a chance at the Grail.”

“How is the Association so sure that they’ve found the actual Grail?” Shirou asks. It’s a fair question. It sounds like the Association has messed up a few times, who is to say this Grail is the “real” one?

“The amount of mana that is coming out of Tokyo is a good indicator that this Grail is in fact, the real Grail.” Kiritsugu says, sighing. “Which is why you’re going to give me those command spells, Shirou.”

What?

Kiritsugu is going to fight?!

Absolutely not.

“Kiritsugu-“

“No, I won’t hear it.” Kiritsugu abruptly cuts Shirou off. “I am a much more capable mage that you are. You’ve seen how vicious these mages can be, you’ve killed a few of them yourself. You are a talented mage killer, but not a talented mage by any means. To be a mage, is to walk with dead Shirou, you aren’t ready for that."

Before Shirou can argue with his adopted father, the sound of the front door opening can be heard, followed by a very familiar sing-song voice.

“Kiritsugu!~~”

Of all the times…

 “Taiga, didn’t I tell you I would meet you outside?” Kiritsugu asks, taking another hit off of his cigarette, giving Shirou a look to drop whatever argument he was about to make.

Fujimaru Taiga’s energetic energy fills the room, as she smiles at Kiritsugu.

“Ah, but I wanted to surprise you!” Taiga says before frowning. “What’s with this animosity I’m feeling in here? Kerry, was you arguing with Shirou before I showed up?!”

“Something like that.” Reaching over to the nearby table, Kiritsugu puts his cigarette out.

“Didn’t I tell you, that you need to quit smoking?!” Tagia chastises, lightly hitting Kiritsugu. “What, do you want to both age and die faster?! The last thing you need to be doing is smoking!”

Ignoring Tagia’s worries, Kiritsugu turns his attention back to Shirou. “We’ll finish talking about this later.”

“Huh? Were you arguing about sending him to public school?” Taiga asks, as she follows Kiritsugu out of the living room. “You should let him socialize with other kids his age! He’s probably tired of being dragged along with you, on your boring work trips!”

Shirou frowns a bit, as he his father assure Taiga that is defiantly not what they were arguing about, as the front door closes, the sound of Kiritsugu locking the front door signals that he is alone, finally.

If nothing else, there is one thing Shirou is for sure about.

Kiritsugu is not going to fight in this Grail War. At least not directly.

That is going to be all him. It’s the least he could do to repay Kiritsugu for saving him, from that fire in-

No, better not think about _that._

There is no way that he can ever repay Kiritsugu fully for all that he’s done for him, but winning this grail war would be a good start.

If this grail is truly a wish granter then…he could stop whatever is causing Kiritsugu to be sick. He could wish for him to be cured of his illness. They could take on more jobs together that way, travel together without taking a three week break in between.

And Kiritsugu doesn’t have to hide the fact that he’s sick anymore. Shirou isn’t stupid. He’s seen the coughing fits Kiritsugu has after using just a bit of magic.

Which is why they try to avoid using magic altogether. Instead, they opt to use modern weapons in order to kill mages.

He could use some of that skillset Kiritsugu taught him, in order to take out the other mages in this Holy Grail War.

 _Alright then._ Shriou thinks to himself, standing up.

It’s going to be awhile before Kiritsugu is back, if he remembers correctly, Taiga is dragging him around town to do some shopping for around the house.

He’ll be gone for a while; he could use this time to summon a heroic spirit.

Walking down the hallway, Shirou steps into another room, a room where Kiritsugu keeps all of his reading material about magecraft hidden away. Only bringing it out whenever they go on trips, and forcing Shirou to read it in hotel rooms, and on trains.

Not exactly the best reading material, but hey, maybe there’s something about the Holy Grail War in one of these books.

Closing the door behind him, Shirou sits down by the bookcase, pulling out one book, and skimming through it.

Might as well get comfortable, he’s sure he’ll be here for a while.

Minutes turn to a couple of hours. Books pile up next to the inexperienced mage.  

That’s when he finally finds at least a hint on how to summon and Heroic Spirit.

A diagram of a pentagram gets his attention.

_“A magus does not need a large-scale summoning circle in order to summon a Servant. Servants are called forth by the Grail. The Masters priority is keeping the Servant in this world, and to supply them with enough magical energy to substantiate. The Holy Grail takes care of the summoning.”_

Okay, the hell does that mean? Could he use this diagram as his summoning circle?

If this short paragraph is true, then all he needs to do is put the book in front of him, and possibly hold out his right hand?

His eyes skim the rest of the page, another sentence catches his attention.

_“A Command Spell is a holy sign. Granted by the Holy Grail, it is proof that a magus has been chosen by the Holy Grail to participate in the Holy Grail War.”_

So, it sounds like that as long as he has this “Command Spell” on his hand, he has no choice but to summon a Servant.

Taking a deep breath, he sits the textbook in front of him.

 _Please let this work._ Shirou pleas, to what he isn’t sure, but he needs to do this before Kiritsugu gets back, and forcefully takes his Command Spells from him.

Closing his eyes, he holds out his right hand, he focuses all of his energy onto his marked hand.

Minutes pass.

….And nothing is happening.

Opening his eyes, he sighs annoyedly.

What the hell else does he need to do?! Why make this so complicated?!

Kiritsugu is right, mages are stuck in their old ways. This dumb ritual is proof of that, Shriou thinks to himself kicking the textbook in frustration.

He’ll find some other way to summon a Servant. Maybe that book was outdated and-

….Why is that book glowing?

Wait is it working now?! Holding in his breath, a bright light fills the room, bright enough that Shirou is forced to close his eyes once more.

“Yooo Master!” A smooth voice calls.

Opening his eyes, a tall man stands before him. Long jet-black hair, tattoos all over his body, blue gauntlets can be seen on his arms.

“I’m the Assassin that you summoned up! Yan Qing at your service, Master.” The Servant says, examining Shirou. “The Grail let a kid summon me? Ah well, lets just roll with it. We can both be lady killers together!”


	10. Old Friends, Old Problems

“Fillia!” A playful voice calls. “Are you ready? Did you sleep okay? I know you had a long journey here…” 

The homunculus Fillia, nods her head, tying her long white hair into a ponytail.

“I had a very good sleep. Thank you for letting me stay here Illyasviel.”

Giggling, the older girl tugs on her arm. “You can call me Illya, Fillia. You’re kind of like a little sister to me!”

As hard as it is to believe, this girl, Illyasviel von Einzbern is actually much older than her. She has to be at least in her twenties.

“O-Okay Illya.” Fillia mummers, as she’s being dragged along by Illya.

“Grandfather wanted us to get this done as soon as we can! We leave for Japan tonight! We’ve already registered with the church over in Tokyo, so we can get to work as soon as we get there! There’s already a house set up for us!” Illya explains, excitement present in her voice.

“Oh.” Fillia simply states.

“Grandfather.” She must be talking about Old Man Acht, otherwise known as Jubstacheit von Einzbern, the former head of the Einzbern family, before Illya took over a few months ago.

“Are you nervous, Fillia? Don’t worry, as the head of the Einzbern family I won’t let anything bad happen to you! As long as I’m your Master, you’ll have nothing to worry about!” Illya promises, smiling back at Fillia as she leads her down a staircase, into the basement.

“I know this looks like a dungeon, but I promise we just use this for storage.” Illya jokes.

…. Dungeon is one way to put it, Fillia thinks to herself as she surveys the surroundings. A jail cell, reminiscent of medieval times, lots of boxes scattered around….it seems that Illya wasn’t lying about using this space for storage.

“Sella! Leysritt! Are we ready to go?” Illya asks, nearly shouting.

“The summoning circle is ready, Lady Illya, we can begin whenever you’re ready.” Sella says, bowing slightly.

“How about you, Fillia? Are you ready?” Illya asks.

“Can you explain what exactly we’re doing here?”

“To put it simply, we’re not simply attempting to summon a Heroic Spirit, we’re attempting to summon a god.” Leysritt explains. “Both Illya and Jubstacheit are in agreement that summoning a goddess would be much more advantageous.”

“We’re going to use you as the vessel for her, Fillia!” Illya tells Fillia, smiling. “You see, normally there is no real way to summon an actual goddess, because to put it simply, the old gods and goddess, can’t take their actual form, so it’s best to use a vessel to host them.”

“I see…” Fillia mummers. It makes sense why they would choose her then. As a homunculus, she can hold much more mana than a normal mage or human being. It makes sense that the Einzberns would use something they created, to preform this ritual, rather than one of Illyas maids.

“Like I said before, don’t worry too much about Fillia. I’ll be your Master, so just know that you’ll be protected.

Her body warms at Illya’s words. She seems very kind, compared to her grandfather.

“Do you have the catalyst ready, Sella?” Illya asks, taking Fillia by the hand once more, leading her to the large summoning circle in the middle of the basement.

“It’s already placed in the center of the summoning circle, Lady Illya.” Sella tells her Master, slightly bowing.

“Do you have any more questions Filllia? If not, we need to hurry and get this over with.”

Swallowing, Fillia shakes her head no. Her tone changed in a split second. Almost as if she’s daring her to ask questions.

“Good! Now, Filllia, I’m going to have you stand next to the catalyst.” Illya explains, standing in front of the summoning circle. “If this becomes too much for you, let us know, and we’ll stop.”

Somehow, Fillia doubts that as she’s does as she’s told. There’s a very high chance that Illya will kill her if she doesn’t comply.

Muttering between the maids and the head of the Einzbern family fill the room for a few short moments, before Illya returns her attention to the summoning circle.

Exchanging a brief glance with Fillia, Illya begins the summoning ritual, uttering a string of words, which if Fillia was honest make no sense to her. However, she can’t help but wonder about the object next to her.

A pile of bones.

Were they human bones? Animal bones? There’s no telling when it comes to mages. It could be one of those things, or something completely different. There is just no way to know.

_“Yet you shall serve with your eyes clouded by chaos. For you would be one caged in madness. I shall wield your chains!”_

Bright light fills Fillia’s vision, as she screws her eyes shit.

Upon opening her eyes, she’s greeted by a male a bit taller than her, with golden hair, and eyes the color of rubies.

_“You should be honored that I’m even asking you to be my husband!”_ an almost whiny voice says. _“As the patron goddess of your city, you should be overjoyed that I’m asking you such a thing!”_

_Laughing. Obnoxious laughing, Fillia notes. For some reason, it annoys her. _

_“Oh? Then what about Dumuzi? If I remember correctly, he is trapped in the underworld with Ereshkigal, because of your misjudgments._

_Rolling her eyes, she attempts to place her hand onto the man’s chest, but her hand is quickly swatted away._

_Anger rises through Fillia’s body, as if she’s the one who is being disrespected._

_“Gilgamesh, you’re being unreasonable!” The goddess exclaims. “We will live in a house made of the very same cedar that Humbaba guarded. I will give you a chariot laden with lapis lazuli, in exchange. It’s a fair trade, isn’t it?”_

_….And it doesn’t look like he’s even listening to her. Asshole._

_“Both you and me have anything we could ever want.” The arrogant king points out. “Your lust for my body is only temporary. Whose to say that you won’t turn me into an animal, or give me an unfortunate fate as you did your past lovers? Each man you loved, learned how cruel your heart is. I refuse to be one of those men you love and toss aside, goddess. Now leave. Your presence is not needed or welcome here.”_

_Furious. That’s the only way to describe the way that she’s feeling right now._

_How dare he talk to her like that? How dare he just dismiss her as if she was one of his many wives? The arrogance, and disrespect of the demi-god king has finally gone too far._

_“You’ll pay for this, Gilgamesh! You’ll regret that you rejected me! I’ll take everything from you!”_

“Did it work?” Illya whispers, stepping closer to the homunculus. “Grandfather told me, that Fillia is the strongest Homunculus that we’ve been able to make in a long time. Was he wrong?”

As Fillia’s eyes open, Illya lets out a sigh of relief. “Thank goodness! I was worried that we’ve might’ve killed you somehow!”

“Are you my Master?” The homunculus asks, looking down at her body.

At least she was summoned into a female body. It could’ve been worse; she thinks to herself.

“Yes!” Illya excitedly says, rolling up her sleeve just a bit, revealing three tattoos that are shaped like wings. “These are my command seals, as proof of our contract! My name is Illya, what is your name and class?”

“Class?” She asks, bringing a hand up to her face, what was the blasted thing again? What did she choose, when she took over this girl’s body a few minutes ago? Oh, that’s right.

“Berserker. Berserker is my class.” As for her true name…. well, any other time, she would say it should be obvious.

….But in a vessel like this, it’s not so obvious is it?

“Congrats. You have summoned the strongest Mesopotamian goddess, Ishtar. Pay your respects to me properly.”

* * *

 “This is my assistant, Gray. My name is Waver Velvet. I am your Master.” Lord El Melloi tells the Lancer Servant, in front of him.

Of all the people he could’ve summoned, it had to be this person. Enkidu. The person who was prominent in the Epic of Gilgamesh. 

Best friend to the man who killed his Servant, in the fake Holy Grail War he fought in, many years ago.

This is fates way of laughing at him. It has to be. There’s no other explanation for it.

“N-Nice to meet you, Enkidu.” Gray stammers out, smiling just a bit. “I hope we get along okay.”

The clay nods their head, before meeting Waver’s eyes.

“I get the feeling that I’m not the Servant that you were hoping for, Master. I can tell by the way you’re looking at me.”

“Something like that.” Waver admits, shrugging. “But none of that matters now. We’re partners for now, it’s best that we do our best to get along. How is your mana flow doing? Are you receiving efficient mana from me?”

“I’m feeling fine…but there’s something I don’t understand…” Enkidu mummers.

“And that is?”

“Why summon me in a city? Judging by the size of these buildings, this city is quite large. Surly you don’t intend for us to fight here?”

“This city is where the Holy Grail War is being held. It’s not like I chose the where we’re to fight, Enkidu.” Waver argues, crossing his arms.

The Lancer mummers something in a language that Waver has never heard before, before the Lancer looks like they’re about to say something, but stops themselves.

“Master, did you feel that just now?” Enkidu mummers, almost as if they were asking _themselves_ that question.

Gray looks up at Waver, whose doing nothing but glaring at the Servant.

“W-Well, there’s other mages in this city too, Enkidu.” Gray begins to explain. “There are some who are probably summoning their own Servants, at the same time we are.”

Shaking their head, Enkidu readies themselves to jump. “Forgive me Master, once I’m done, we can get to know one another better, but there is something that I must do.”

“Enkidu!” Waver calls out, in the blink of an eye, Enkidu is gone just as quickly as they appeared.

_“Are you sure that’s even a normal Servant?!”_ Add asks, laughing. _“He’s more robot than human.”_

Sighing annoyedly, Waver bends down opening one of his suitcases, pulling out a small earpiece, and throwing it to Gray.

“Follow after him.” Waver orders. “Bring him back here. Use that to keep in contact with me.”

“Right!” Pulling out, Add from his cage, he immediately changes to it’s main form, a scythe that is called **Grim Reaper: The scythe of the Death God.** “I’ll contact you as soon as I’m able to, Master!” Gray promises, before running after the Lancer Servant.

* * *

Ur-Nungal closes his eyes, as his Master places kisses down his neck, her hands tugging on his shirt in an attempt to pull it off of his body.

“Manaka…” the Archer Servant breaths out, attempting to sit up, before Manaka’s hands push him back onto the couch.

“Stop moving silly!” Manaka giggles. “This is what you want, right? Last night, while we were drinking you said “I want to be inside you, Manaka.” So, I’m just giving my Servant what he wants!”

Heat rushes to his face. Shit. There’s no way he said that. No way at all. She’s just messing with him. He didn’t get _that_ shitfaced, did he?

“You’ve been such a good boy too.” Manaka says, toss his shirt onto the carpet, her hands running down his chest. “You’ve managed to convince a few mages that you’re Gilgamesh. No doubt some mages are looking all over Tokyo, for the real one right now.”

Nungal still has some questions about that, though it’s insanely hard to think right now with her hands, and mouth slowly moving downwards….

No, he’s a king dammit! He can’t be swayed by her touches.

“Manaka, how did you know that Gil-, my father, would be summoned? And how did you guess that the Saber you summoned in the last Holy Grail War would be here too?”

“Hmm?” Manaka muses, presses her lips to her Servants. “Don’t worry about it, Nungal, didn’t we agree to trust each other?”

They did, but…

“Then let me take care of you, and in exchange you’ll take care of me. Think of this as two friends that are taking care of each other.”

That’s all well and good but-

…A chill runs up Nungal’s spine. What in the hell was that? There’s only one person that emits that type of feeling from him.

Just as Manaka’s hand goes to his belt buckle, Nungal grabs both of her wrists.

“Archer!” Manaka hisses, sending a glare to Nungal.

“Master, there’s something that you need to know.” Nungal begins, his tone turning serious.

“What, about how many women you’ve slept with when you were alive? I don’t care about that, Archer.”

“No, not about that!” Damn, how to explain this in a way that she would understand…

“I believe that someone I know was just summoned. My-“

“You have a wife or something?” Manaka tone turns dark, causing Nungal to work up a sweat.

“N-No! I was trying to say that, my patron goddess might’ve been summoned! Ishtar! I don’t know if you know about her, but-“

His Master begins to laugh.

“Silly! Goddess can’t be summoned in this world! Don’t you know? They’ve all been forced to retreat to the Reverse Side of the World!”

While that may be true, gods and goddess can still be summoned, if the mage is skilled enough, and there’s a suitable vessel for them to reside in. It doesn’t seem like Manaka wants to listen to him though, as she pulls him in for an embrace, ordering him to kiss her.

If his gut feeling is right…. then they need to find Ishtar and defeat her Master first.

Or there’s no way that he’s winning this Grail War.

* * *

“Marisbury, are you sure that this will work?” Kirchtaria asks, looking down at the ready-made summoning circle.

“I’ve never been surer of anything in my life, Kirchtaria.” Marisbury replies, giving his apprentice a smile. “Was the Summoning Circle hard to set up?”

“Not particularly. I just followed the directions you gave me. Do you think that the Association actually found the real Holy Grail this time? Last time they found it in America, it turned out to be a fake.”

“I could believe it. The reports that I’ve been hearing from the Association, tell me that the mana readings are off the charts in Tokyo.”

“Which is why we’re taking this chance and going then?” A redundant question, but one they needed to be asked, Kirchtaria thinks to himself. Even more so, considering that Marisbury mentioned to him once before, that it didn’t matter that a Grail was “fake,” there was still as a possibility that a fake Grail could still grant wishes.

“Precisely.” Placing the gold ring in the middle of the Summoning Circle, Marisbury turns back to look at Kirchtaria. “Tell me, Kirchtaria, if you won a Holy Grail War, what would you wish for?”

“….I’ve never thought about it, to be quite honest.” Between his duties as the upcoming head of the Woodime, and being Marisbury’s apprentice, he hasn’t had much time for thoughts like that. “Just tell me where our enemies our, and I will do my best to ensure your victory, Marisbury.”

Almost as if the older mage didn’t hear him, Marisbury asks another question.

“Have I ever told you, that my family is the direct descendant of Solomon?”

Raising an eyebrow, Krichtaria watches, almost breathlessly, as his teacher takes off his gloves, revealing the Command Spells on his right hand. Shaped like four angel wings, Marisbury told him that he was chosen by the Grail, and that he was required to participate in the Grail War at that point. To be honest, if the statement about the Animusphere family being directly descended from Solomon is true, it wouldn’t surprise Krichtaria. Marisbury is an incredibly strong Magus. His daughter could be just as strong as he is, if only he would teach her.

As Marisbury begins the Summoning Ritual, Krichtara’s mind can’t help but wander back to the question Marisbury asked him…. what would he wish for?

Power and money? He has both of those things already. He can have any woman that he wants, thanks to his power and money.

Maybe happiness? That’s such a silly thing to wish for…but well… He hasn’t even stopped to think if he’s truly happy being a mage. Not that it matters. Being born into a mage family, your destiny is decided for you, the moment you were conceived. Any other magus would literally kill to be in the position he’s in right now. His main goal should be to help the person who has given him so many opportunities in his time at the Clock Tower.

Looking up, a man, no, a Servant stands before him, as Marisbury pants ever so slightly. He has long white-hair, golden eyes, and tattoos all over his arm. His aura is otherworldly, but yet his facial expression is a bored one at most, sleepy at best.

“Caster class Servant, Solomon has been summoned. I’m assuming the one with the command spells is my Master? Or am I mistaken?”

His goal is still the same, He’s going to help Marisbury win this Grail War, with this Servant, and bring the Grail back to the Clock Tower. They’ll use the money from the Association, to fund an experiment Marisbury is calling Chaldea.

* * *

He’s dead.

Oh, he’s so dead. With Kiritsugu staring at him like this, Emiya Shirou is pretty sure he’s going to kill him, before another Master can.

“Eh? Is this your old man, kid?” The Assassin, Yan Qing asks, giving Shirou a slap on the back.

“Y-Yeah.” Shirou manages to say, not breaking eye contact with Kiritsugu. “It’s not-“

“What it looks like?” Kiritsugu finishes Shirou’s sentence. “Then tell me, what is this man who is obviously a Servant doing here? Those Command Spells on your arm? It seems to me, you did exactly what I told you not to do.”

Yeah, he’s mad, Shirou thinks to himself.

“Oh. I think I understand the situation here.” Yan Qing mummers, nodding his head. “Your old man here, doesn’t want you in a Holy Grail War, and was probably going to summon me himself, but you probably went behind his back and summoned me. I thought it was weird a kid summoned me.”

The frown Shirou sent his way made it unmistakably clear to the Assassin, that he hit the nail on the head.

Instead of responding to the Servant, Kiritsugu takes a good look at the Command Spells that have appeared on Shirou’s hand.

Idiot, this kid has no idea what he just did. He needs to realize the severity of what he’s just gotten himself into.

“Regardless of if you were chosen by the Grail or not, you aren’t strong enough to compete in a Grail War.” Kiritsugu says. “You can barely use basic magic, what makes you think that you’re strong enough to defeat mages with decades of experience, compared to you?”

Shirou knows he isn’t strong enough to fight an experienced magus, even with the knowledge of guns that he’s learned from Kiritsugu. He knows that he’s being stupid by going through with this, but there’s a reason for his irrationality.

Through the years that they’ve spent together, Shirou has picked up bits and pieces of Kiritsugu’s past. He was involved in a Holy Grail War before, more than likely a fake one. He summoned an Archer class Servant named Gilgamesh in that war, but they didn’t get along. The reason he uses modern technology when they go mage hunting, is to catch said mages off guard. According to his father, a lot of these mages are still living in the past.

Kiritsugu also had a family before his father adopted him. He has a daughter named Illya, but Shirou is never allowed to ask questions about her, or the girls mother.

If anything, Kiritsugu deserves to see his daughter again. He could bear the burden of fighting in a Grail War, he could give back to the man who in all actuality, had no reason to adopt him.

“I want to win the Grail, so that you can reunite with your daughter again.” Shirou finally replies, his fists clenched. “You’re right, I’m not that good of a mage, but I won’t give you my Command Spells. You’ve done enough for me, and it’s time for me to fight for myself. You can’t fight all of my battles for me, Dad.”

That response honestly took Kiritsugu by surprise, though he doesn’t show it outwardly. Reunite him with his daughter? Even if he won the Grail, Shirou wouldn’t know what to do with it.

“Shirou, if you would give me your Command Spells, I could do that myself. You say that you don’t need me fighting your battles, but I don’t need you fighting _mine_ either.”

Yan Qing sighs. Gods, they really are father and son, aren’t they? All of this pointless back and forth…

“Mr. Mage, I know you don’t know me from anyone, but your kid here is obviously trying to help you. I agree that he’s not that competent of a mage, judging by the amount of mana that he’s providing me with. I do sense that you are no doubt stronger than him, due to your life experience, but can’t you see that he’s trying to do something nice for you?” Yan asks, looking between the father and son. “I ain’t sure what happened between you and your daughter, and frankly, it’s none of my business, but I lost someone important to me as well in the last Grail War I was in. I can promise you that I will never let your son get hurt or killed. Isn’t there some compromise that you two can make with each other?”

Shirou smiles just a bit. He’s going to have to thank Yan later, for defending him like this.

“You could come with me to Tokyo, Dad.” Shirou offers. “I promise that if things begin to go south for us, I will give you Yan and my Command Spells.”

That’s a fair offer, isn’t it? All Shirou has to do is make sure that he doesn’t make too many mistakes, and Kiritsugu should be happy.

Compared to his previous Servant, this Servant doesn’t seem that bad, as much as Kiritsugu hates to admit it. Honestly, Kiritsugu can’t see this ending well for Shirou if he goes to Tokyo alone. There’s a very high chance that he’ll come back to Fuyuki in a body bag. That would break him more than he already is.

“There’s only way I can see this working.” Kiritsugu begins. “Is if me and this Servant here, keep you out of harm’s way.”

“And how are we gonna do that, Mr. Mage?”

“My name is Kiritsugu.” Correcting the Assassin Servant. “I’ll act as your Master, while Shirou acts as our support. This is the only way I can see us making any progress in the war.”

“I have no problems with that.” Yan says, turning his attention to his Master. “How about you kid? You have any objections to this? Don’t you think it’ll be better for you and your old man to work together, instead of trying to do everything by yourself?”

It would. If anything, Kiritsugu acting as a decoy will at least help him out just a bit.

“Yeah. Well Dad, do you want me to book us a train to Tokyo?”

Shaking his head, Kiritsugu moves to the doorway. “No, we’ll drive. There’s no way that we’ll be able to smuggle weapons on a train. Pack everything you need; we’ll leave in a few hours.”

“My name is Yan Qing by the way, Kiritsugu. I hope that we can all work together, flawlessly.”

So does Kiritsugu.

* * *

Sigma, digs through his pockets, pulling out a small key, before looking at a white piece of paper. Apartment 201. And he’s for sure in Roppongi This is the apartment that Francesca Prelati, his mentor, is letting him barrow for the time being.

Unlocking the door, he steps inside turning on the light. Dusty. It looks as if no one has been here for years. To be honest, that’s probably the case. Francesca did mention that she only lived in Japan for six months, before going back to Britain. She did seem happy that she kept this apartment for this long…

“ _Oh, that’s right! I do have a condo in Japan that you could barrow! Hmm…I think it was in Roppongi? If it’s not, find a phone, and give me a call, and I can attempt to hunt down the papers for the place.”_

“Er…” Sigma speaks out loud, closing the door behind him, making sure to lock it. “You can come out now. Sorry for making you stay in spirit form for that long.”

To be honest, he doesn’t even want to be here, but his mentor is paying him good money to win a Holy Grail War for her.

_“Sigma!~~ I’m so happy that you came to see me!” Francesca nearly hops over, giving him a tight hug. “How is work going? Are you getting many contracts?”_

_“Not really. You know how it is.”_

_Giggling, Francesca takes Sigma by the hand, pulling him over to the middle of her living room._

_“You’re so shy Sigma! I bet you a lot of girls have a crush on you! Your dark hair, and eyes, you’re so mysterious!”_

_“What did you want to see me for, mentor?” Sigma asks, cutting to the chase. If not, he knows damn well that he’ll be stuck here for hours, listening to her go on and on._

_Pouting Francesca sits down on the nearby couch, motioning for Sigma to sit next to her, which he does._

_“You’re no fun Siggy! I haven’t seen you in a month, and this is how you treat me?! You never call, or even send a text message!”_

_“Maybe it’s because you never pick up when I do call you.”_

_Ignoring Sigma’s comments, Francesca changes the subject. “You said you haven’t been getting many contracts, right? I think I know the reason why.”_

_“Oh?”_

_“Now I have your attention!” Smiling smugly, Francesca continues. “Did you know there’s about to be a grail war in Tokyo, Japan? The Mage Association is scrambling around, trying to get Tokyo all set up, for the incoming Masters. I heard that they found the Grail randomly. Isn’t that funny? That’s how things like that always happen though. When you least expect to find something, is the exact moment when you find it. That goes for humans’ purposes in life too, y’know?”_

_Her definition of funny, has to be completely different than his own…he doesn’t see the humor in that statement at all._

_“Are you going to compete, Francesca?”_

_“No, but you are.”_

_“What?”_

_“I’m going to hire you, to fight for me, Siggy. You’re a mercenary in need of work, aren’t you? I’m here to provide you said work. You should be hugging me right now, in tears about this opportunity.”_

_“Why aren’t you going to fight?” It’s a valid question. All these years, Francesca has wanted to compete in a Grail War, and now she’s shoving that onto him?_

_“I don’t want to get my hands dirty. Besides, you need experience as a mage. It’s just more fun this way.” Francesca explains, brushing a strand of hair out from Sigma’s face. “It’s not like I’m not going to pay you. You know I’m good for the money, Sigma.”_

_“The money isn’t what I’m worried about, it’s the amount.”_

_“You’ll never have to work again if you do this for me, Sigma.” Francesca promises, her tone suddenly turning serious. “Sigma, you’re the only one I can count on.”_

_Cursing, Sigma realizes that he’s going to be forced to do this one way or another. Might as well agree while she’s seemingly ready to pay him._

_“Alright, alright, I’ll do it.” Sigma agrees, earning him another hug from his mentor. “Do you have any information about who’s going to Japan?”_

_“Not a lot.” Francesca admits. “I do know that the Clock Tower, will send someone. If they were smart, they would send the new Lord El Melloi. Have you met him? He’s quite cute himself.”_

_“ **Mentor.”** Sigma groans, his way of telling his mentor to stay on the current subject. _

_“Orlando Reeve is also joining. He’s more than likely going to take his would be police force with him.” Rolling her eyes at her own words, Francesca motions at to the middle of the living room. “While we’re on the subject of Masters, I can’t believe you haven’t noticed your Summoning Circle.”_

_Peering over, Sigma doesn’t notice anything different. He has no idea what the hell she’s on about._

_“I don’t see anything.”_

_“What, are you blind? Don’t you see that rug in the middle of the floor?!”_

_Oh._

_Now he see’s it. The rug shaped like a pentagram. He doesn’t see how this will summon a Servant._

_“…I don’t think this will work, Francesca.” Sigma says plainly. “Don’t you have to kill an animal or something, and then use it’s blood to make a Summoning Circle?”_

_“And get my house filthy?! Absolutely not. Now, get over there and repeat after me.”_

_Resisting the urge to sigh, Sigma does as he’s told, but not before asking one more question._

_“Don’t I need a catalyst?”_

_“Nope!” Francesca replies. “The Grail can pick which Servant best fits your personality and needs, I thought it would be more fun that way!”_

_Yeah, her definition of “fun” is twisted._

_“Okay then, what do I need to do?” Sigma asks, attempting to hide his annoyance._

_“Like I said before, repeat after me.” Said Francesca, moving to stand next to Sigma._

Sigma watches as his Servant surveys the apartment, frowning as she does so.

“This is what homes are like in Japan, now? All dusty and filthy?!”

“Nobunaga, please, it’s not that bad. No one has lived here in a long time, so it’s natural that it would be a little dusty.”

_“Avenger Servant, Demon King of the Sixth Heaven, Oda Nobunaga has blessed you by appearing!”_

_“Oh! See Sigma, I told you it would work!” Francesca exclaims._

“Either way, I’m not sitting on this filthy furniture.” Nobunaga said, crossing her arms. “No way in hell.”

“Would you feel better if I cleaned up in here a little?” Sigma asks, trying to compromise with the Avenger Servant.

“Yes. That can wait until you rested a bit. You had a long journey from America. You’re probably tired. I’m not so heartless as to make my vassal work when he’s deadass tired. After you’ve rested, I’ll accompany you to the convince store. You can buy me snacks, and food.”

“….Okay. That sounds like a plan.” Sigma says softly, heading into one of the bedrooms.

Can he truly win with….. this type of Servant? Sigma wonders, as he flops down onto the bed, his eyes closing.

He doesn’t get much time to ponder that thought, as sleep overtakes his body, leaving the question still in his mind.

* * *

“Darnic, can’t we trade Servants?!” Caules asks, sitting across from the head of the Yggdmillennia family.

Looking up from his book, Darnic chuckles to himself. “You look tired Caules, is your Servant already wearing you out?”

“He just now went to sleep! He dragged me all around the neighborhood for two hours! Acting as if we’d really find another Master around here!”

Shaking his head, Darnic returns his attention to the book he’s reading.

“He’s too much for me, Darnic.” Caules tells Darnic honestly. “I can’t control Mori.”

“I think he would be a good influence on you, Caules.” Darnic counters. “It’s only been a few days; you haven’t gotten to know him.”

Get to know him? He’s a **_Berserker_** Caules isn’t sure that he even can get to know him. Berserker’s aren’t exactly known for their cognitive abilities.

“Where’s your Servant, Darnic?”

“He’s out surveying the area. Lucius will be back soon.”

“Do you guys get along? I haven’t really talked to him but…”

“He’s intimidating?” Darnic asks, to which Caules nods his head.

“I can see how you would think that. He does give off that kind of vibe…” Darnic trails off.

Damn, why is it so _awkward?_ He’s known Darnic for all of his life, even joked around with him a bit here and there, but maybe it’s the situation they’re in, but he feels like he can’t make a mistake, or Darnic will disown him.

“Do you know of a family named the Einzberns, Caules?” Darnic questions, closing his book, sitting it aside.

“I’ve only heard the name.” Caules admits. “Not much else.”

“The Einzbern family once had mastered the Third Magic, but lost it. They’re the ones responsible for the ritual we’re doing right now. Officially, the ritual is called the “Heavens Feel ritual”, but now we just call it the “Holy Grail War.” As such, they are guaranteed a spot in the Holy Grail War.”

“I see…” So, they know at least one Master is an Einzbern. “I’m not sure what you’re suggesting here, Darnic.”

“I’m suggesting, we find the Einzbern Servant or Master, and remove them from the War first.”

Swallowing, Caules quickly processes what Darnic is saying. Darnic wants to go after the Einzbern Master. Alright, how are they going to find them? Tokyo is a big city, and they can’t spend all of their time scouring the city for the Einzberns.

“How are we going to find the Einzbern Master?” Caules asks.

“Lucius is out looking for them now. I ordered him to look near where the church is. At some point, they’re going to have to check in with the church, regardless if they’re promised a spot in the war or not.”

“Should we send Mori out there too?” The least he could do is offer his help, he doesn’t want Darnic to think that he’s not pulling his own weight.

“No, you already did you part for today. It’s late, why don’t you get some rest? I’m about to go to sleep myself. We can work together to find where the Einzberns are hiding.”

With that, Darnic gets up, leaving Caules alone.

Laying his head onto the table, Caules wonders just what the hell he got into. For now, at least, he can let Darnic lead the way, he knows a lot more about this Grail War stuff, than he does.

Now to figure out how to control his Servant, if that’s even possible.

* * *

“Orlando, listen to me.” Ozymandias orders, standing next to his Master, watching him type away on his laptop.

“What is it, my king?” Orlando asks, not even bothering to look up from his laptop.

Frowning, the pharaoh glances at Moses, who shrugs. Turning his attention back to his Master, the Rider, almost slams his Masters laptop shut, forcing Orlando to make eye contact with him.

“Pharaoh, if it was truly an important subject, all you had to do was say so.”

Ignoring Orlando’s passive aggressiveness, Ozymandias crosses his arms, and begins to speak. “Orlando, what is your next move? We’ve been sitting here for days waiting on _you._ You said you had to move some people to this land. Is that done yet? If we wait too long, our enemies will close in on us.”

“And why are you asking me that now? I recall that you and your brother were content to lounge around, until a strong enemy showed up. What happened to that?” Orlando inquires, leaning back in his seat.

“We encountered a Master, while we were out.” Moses says softly.

This isn’t going to go how Ramses wants it to. Moses knows that. To be honest, deep down, his brother knows that too. Orlando is methodical. As someone who owns a private police force, he’s probably thought of every possibility under the sun. If his gut feeling is correct, Orlando likely allowed them to explore Tokyo, in hopes that they would encounter another Master, or a Servant.

Without missing a beat, Orlando asks a question. “Oh? What did they look like? Or did you two manage to get their name?”

“Tohsaka Rin.” Ozymandias says.

Orlando closes his eyes for a moment, as if pondering what he’s going to say next. “The Tohsaka family…. I heard that girl’s father, Tohsaka Tokiomi, met an unfortunate end, during a fake Holy Grail War. Sad. I’m amazed that the daughter is out and about. Did she have her Servant with her? The Tohsaka family are promised a place in the war, so she must have summoned a strong Servant, no?”

“That’s what we wanted to talk to you about, Master…” Moses starts.

“But not before you tell us, what your plan is, Orlando.” The Pharaoh finishes Moses sentence.

“Our plan, for now, is still the same. Gilgamesh is the biggest threat in this war at this point and time. If he is able to cast his Noble Phantasm, then all of Tokyo will be destroyed, and us with it.” Orlando explains in a monotone voice. “We need to overwhelm Gilgamesh, before he’s able to do anything.”

“Then I suggest when ally with the Tohsaka family.” Ozymandias says seriously, his usual arrogant tone, gone for the moment. “If you wish to overwhelm that man, the more Servants we have, the better. Though, I could beat him myself.”

“You still haven’t told me what Servant she has, great Pharaoh.” Orlando counters.

“I don’t know their True Name.” Ozymandias replies, a small lie. “Only that it’s a Caster.”

“And how did you two come across Tohsaka?” Orlando asks, a redundant question for him. He already knows how they came across Tohsaka Rin. How another Master, Leonardo B. Harwey attacked Rin, and his two Servants saved her.

He’s aware of her Servants true name, Nefertari. A wife of the man before him. He has his men to thank for that. They followed both of his Servants at a distance, so they wouldn’t suspect anything.

“No.” Orlando says simply.

“No?” Ozymandias hisses.

Oh no. Cringing, Moses can feel a fight coming on. He can sense the anger rising in the Riders body. This isn’t good.

“I believe I made myself clear. We won’t be allying with the Tohsaka family. If anything, she needs to be removed from this Grail war, before she herself becomes a threat.”

“A threat?!” Ozymandias exclaims, his fists clenching. “Do you hear yourself, Orlando?! Her Servant is anything but a threat! You’re being a coward.”

“Only one Master and Servant pair can win a Grail War, Ramses.” Orlando reminds his Servant. “Whatever attachment you have to the Tohsakas, I suggest you get over it.”

“You dare disrespect me?! Me, who is Horus and Ra?!” Anger and irritation mix in the Pharaohs voice. “You are treading on dangerous ground right now, mage.”

“Ramses, please.” Moses says, attempting to calm his brother down. “Stop, it’s not worth it.”

“And you are okay with him disrespecting me like this?!” Ramses questions. “ _You_ of all people?”

“I would listen to your brother if I were you, Rider.”

“Keep talking to me like that mage, and I’ll kill you and everyone that works for you.”

“No, you won’t.” Orlando states calmly. “You’re withholding information from me, Ramses. Why should I do as you say, when you’re lying to me?”

“Lying?” Moses asks.

“I know the Servants true identity, Moses. We can stop this dancing around.”

“So, you were spying on us then?” Ozymandias mutters, summoning his crook. “I’ll summon **Mesektet** , and demolish your workshop, and you with it.”

“Ramses! Stop!” Moses rushes over to the older Servant, placing his hands on his shoulders. “I understand why you’re upset, but _please!_ Stop being stubborn and-“

The next thing Moses knows, is that his back hits the wall. Hard. So hard that his vision is blurry.

Ramses threw him across the room, Moses realizes, groaning. If this keeps going, Ozymandias going to kill both himself, and Orlando.

Orlando glances towards his Caster Servant, before sighing. “Shall I use a Command Spell?”

“YOU-“ The Rider yells, but is cut off by Orlando showing off his Command Spells.

“By my Command Spell, Ozymandias, you are not to harm myself, or any of the people around this workshop.”

And with that, one of the markings on Orlando’s hand fade away.

Clenching his teeth, Ozymandias has no choice but to obey the Command Spell. The wretched thing.

“You coward.” Ozymandias hisses.

Standing up, Moses hobbles over to his brother, whispering that they should just leave, and go back to their chambers for the night.

Another push, this time a bit gentler.

“Leave me, Moses.” Ramses warns, heading up the staircase. “You have not changed since the last time I saw you. I thought this time, it would be different. However, it’s apparent that you will never take my side on anything.”

He’s angry, Moses tells himself. He doesn’t mean it.

Still, his words hurt. The Caster stands still until Ramses is out of sight, before following the Rider up the staircase.

Sighing, Orlando pulls out his cellphone from his pocket, dialing a phone number.

“Apologies for calling you so late, but there is something that you need to know, Jester. It’s about the Tohsaka family.”

* * *

“You’re not going to sleep, Master?” A soft voice asks, as she runs a hand through her Master’s brunette hair.

The boy shakes his head no, as he raises his left hand up, looking at the Command Spells on his hand.

He still can’t believe he summoned a Servant. It’s been generations since the Kishinami family were chosen for a Grail war.

His family, before they were murdered by a rouge Enforcer, were in charge of upkeeping the temple of Amaterasu, some members of his family even becoming Shinto priests and priestess.

Or at least, that’s what his caretaker, Touko Aozaki told him as a child.

_“You were supposed to go to a man named Kiritsugu Emiya, but ah, that fell through as he adopted a boy your age at the same time your…incident happened.”_ Tokuo told him on his tenth birthday.

His birth name was Kishinami Hakuno. That is, until Touko made an offhand comment not long after she was forced to adopt him.

_“You look more like a Haruaki, than a Hakuno..”_

_“Okay, my name is Haruaki now, Mom.”_

_“…I was only kidding.” Touko sighs. “And please don’t call me that…it sounds…wrong. And Shiki will never let me live it down.”_

_“Call me Haruaki from now on, Touko.”_

Kishinami Haruaki learned magecraft from Touko Aozaki, becoming her apprentice.

_“It’s only natural that the Grail would pick you, Haru.”_ Is what Touko told him, when these strange markings appeared on his left hand, about a week ago.

His mentor explained the situation to him, telling him that he is required to summon a Heroic Spirit, and with her help, he accomplished that very feat.

“You can go to sleep, Brynhildr.” Haruaki says. “I’m going to stay up just a little longer.”

Lancer class Servant, Brynhildr. Also known as Brunhild, is the daughter of the Norse god Odin, the Valkyrie who fell in love with the hero Sigurd.  

“The I shall stay up too.” Brynhildr states, smiling at her Master.

“Have you ever had weird dreams, Byrn?” Haruaki asks, his brown eyes meeting the Lancers.

“I dream about my Sigurd all of the time.” Brynhildr admits. “Are you having nightmares, Master?”

“Not really “nightmares...” Haruaki begins. “I dream about this girl. I’ve been dreaming about her for at least three years now. Every night. She has the exact same face as me, but he has all of these adventures with people who I’ve never met before. Mostly with this man…” Haruaki trails off.

“Have you told anyone else about these dreams you’re having, Master?”

Shaking his head, no Haruaki continues. “Only my mentor. I’m pretty sure I’ve never met this man in my life, but I see his memories too. Some days, I’ll wake up and I believe that I’m actually _him._ His mannerisms, everything. I can’t control it.” Haruaki admits. “My mentor was giving me pills that cut my consciousness off when I sleep, so I won’t dream at all but…”

“But you don’t like taking them?”

“I like seeing that girl, and him.” Haruaki confesses. “They have much more interesting lives the me. Their names are Hakuno and Gi-“

He stops mid-sentence, standing up, followed by his Servant.

“I felt that too, Master.” Brynhildr confirms. “It’s coming from the tower.”

“Lets go!” Haruaki exclaims, grabbing his jacket. “If we hurry, we might be able to catch them!”

“As you wish!”

As Haruaki puts on his shoes, his heart rate increases. He’s felt this feeling before. Only in his dreams.

Only when Gilgamesh uses his Noble Phantasm.

* * *

“Fucking hell!” Gudako yells, grabbing onto Hakuno, “What the hell is he doing?!”

Wind. Winds stronger than anything he’s felt before. If Arthur isn’t careful, there’s a good chance that they’ll all be blown away.

Tokyo Tower. The Archer Servant Gilgamesh, lead them all the way here. By the time they got there, it seems that Gilgamesh and his opponent have been fighting for a while.

“Hakuno, why the hell is he using his Noble Phantasm?!” Gudako exclaims.

“I don’t know!” Hakuno yells back. Gilgamesh wouldn’t use Ea just on anyone. More so with Gudako as his Master.

Who is he fighting?!

“Master.” Arthur gets Hakuno’s attention as her mind races through the possibilities, of who Gilgamesh is fighting. “What is his Noble Phantasm? What does it do? Please, I need to know, so that I can access the current situation.”

While he already had a feeling this Gilgamesh, isn’t the same Gilgamesh that he fought in the last Grail War he was in, this situation confirms it.

Whatever this Noble Phantasm is, it’s strong. Stronger than the Noble Phantasm that the Gilgmesh he fought had.

Grabbing Arthur’s hand, and squeezing it lightly, Hakuno begins to explain her former Servants Noble Phantasm.

“From what he’s told me, is that his sword, Ea, knows “the truth” of the World. Think of the World we’re currently living in as a curtain. If Gilgamesh using Ea at full power, he can pull that curtain back, revealing “the truth.”

“I don’t understand.” Said Abigail, holding onto Gudako’s hand. “All I know is that this isn’t normal!”

“In short, if you lot don’t find a way to stop him, and _soon_ he’ll destroy the world you’re currently in. The singularity will be destroyed.” A female’s voice emits from Gudako’s pocket

With her hands shaking a bit, Gudakos manages to pull her phone out. “Da Vinci-Chan!”

“Yes, yes. I’m here to provide support. We still can’t see what’s going on, but we can hear everything. The mana readings are off the charts right now.” Da Vinci tells the group. “King Arthur, now that you know the situation do you have any ideas? I have one, but I would like to hear what you thought of first.”

He _really_ doesn’t want to admit it, but this Gilgamesh is a monster all his own. He’s never seen a Noble Phantasm like that before. His mind can’t comprehend just how Ea operates.

The only thing that Arthur could do to protect Hakuno, is to use Avalon….which he doesn’t have.

Which leads him to option number two: use Excalibur and eliminated Gilgamesh, and the person he’s fighting.

As he readies his sword, Hakuno suggests an idea.

“Gudako, use a Command Spell. Order Gil back to you.”

“That’s what I was going to suggest.” Da Vinci chimes in. “It’s the only option I see that could stop him.”

“H-He won’t listen!” Gudako counters. “He only listens to you, Hakuno!”

“Then you’ll have to use two Command Spells. Even a strong Servant like Gilgamesh, can’t resist multiple Command Spells being used all at once.”

“We don’t have much time. I’ll defend you.” Hakuno promises.

“I will too! Mr. Gilgamesh can’t hurt you, as long as the three of us are around!” Abigail tells her Master.

Passing off her phone to Hakuno, Gudako holds out her hand.

“Gilgamesh by first Command Spell, I order you to come back to me!”

One Command Spell disappears.

Nothing.

Exhaling, Gudako tries again. “Okay, with my second Command Spell, Gilgamesh, return to your Master!”

As if sensing the oncoming anger, Arthur pulls Hakuno closer to him, her face meeting his chest.

“Hakuno.” Arthur whispers. “Remember, I want you to rely on me more. Let me handle Gilgamesh. His anger has no place here.”

Listening to Arthur’s concerns, she looks up at the tower, Hakuno barely manages to catch a glimpse of the person Gilgamesh is fighting.

Long green hair…

Wait…

She knows this person! Or at least, she has feeling she does.

“Arthur..” Hakuno starts. “I-I..”

“What is it?” Looking down, much to his surprise, his Master is in tears. “Why are you crying? Is this too much for you?”

_“Once this is all over with Enkidu, I’ll figure out a way to remove your Madness Enhancement.” Hakuno promises, breaking off a piece of her sweet roll, and offering it to the being. “I can’t wait to get to talk with you, and hear your voice!”_

“I don’t know.” Hakuno admits. “I don’t know.”

* * *

_“These two are going to kill us!”_ Add almost yells. _“Tell your Master, to use a Command Spell on this Servant! Or we’ll all be toast!”_

Gray doesn’t know what she’s looking at. These two Servants going at it, as if they’re _enjoying_ this.

Watching them…is like watching two siblings fight.

“ _Gray!”_ Add says again.

“O-Okay.” Touching the earpiece, Gray manages to get ahold of Waver. “Master! I know this is sudden, but please, you need to use a Command Spell on Enkidu!”

_“What?”_

“He’s using what I’m guessing is his Noble Phantasm! Add doesn’t think that Rhongomynaid can stop him, and the Servant he’s fighting!”

_“He’s fighting a Servant?”_

“Yes sir! I can’t get a good look at him, but he’s most definitely fighting another Heroic Spirit!”

Gray hears another noise on the line, followed by _“I need a drink.”_  

_“Alright. A Command Spell should bring him back to me anyways. You head on back here Gray.”_

“Yes Sir!” As Gray cuts off her earpiece, she notices the group of people on the ground by the Tower.

Are those Masters? Are one of those girls the other Servants Master?

Her eyes observe the group for a moment. That’s when she notices him.

The blond-haired man, hugging a girl.

Damn, her head hurts. Has she seen that man before? No, she’d definitely recognize him.

_“Eh? What are you staring at Gray? Did you notice something?”_ Add asks.

“That man down there. Do you see him?”

Silence.

That’s not a good sign.

“Add?”

_“Let’s get back to Waver, Gray. Before someone notices us. You don’t want that man noticing you, trust me.”_

“So, you do know who he is!”

Silence. He’s not going to tell her anything is he? Huffing, she makes a mental note to ask Add about him later. For now, she needs to get back to Waver.

* * *

“These wretched Command Spells!” Gilgamesh exclaims. “The arrogance of her, to use not one, but two one me!”

Laughing, the clay being, dematerializes their heavenly chains. “Oh, so you got hit with a Command Spell as well?”

Glaring, Gilgamesh dematerializes Ea. “You seem remarkably okay with our reunion being interrupted.”

“I was half-expecting it.” Enkidu says, walking towards the edge of the tower.

“Tell me, who is your Master, Enkidu.”

“Someone you’d find boring.” Enkidu shoots back, glancing at Gilgamesh before looking down at the small crowd, at the bottom of the tower. “Which one of these girls is your Master?”

“The plain looking one.”

“Doesn’t tell me much.”

“The one with hair the color of cedar.”

“I dunno…” Enkidu muses. “Seems to me, the male Servant down there is her Servant, by the way he’s embracing her. Did you get rejected again?”

Frowning, Gilgamesh peers down only to see exactly what his friend described.

The knight hugging his Master.

He’s gone too far.

“Oh, you should see your face right now!” Enkidu teases. “You should get back to them, then. I’m glad you’ve found someone to care about, Gil.”

“She’s just my Master.” Gilgamesh tells the Lancer. “That’s all.”

“Right.” Shrugging, Enkidu prepares to leap off. “I should return to my Master, before I get hit with another Command Spell. Perhaps we’ll talk later, Gil.”

These mongrels are pushing his patience to it’s limits. He’s going to have a talk with the Chaldea Master, about why she thought it was a good idea to use those….things on him.

And why the King of Knights feels the need to put his hands on what belongs to him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And we've reached the end of part one! Thank you guys so much for reading, and sticking around! If you want to talk with me more, hit me up on Tumblr @ProducerMokyo!

**Author's Note:**

> This was highly requested by the cats over at Tumblr. Thanks to you all for giving me the idea. Not sure how often this will update so bear with me. 
> 
> This whole idea was based off a "What if there was a Fate/Prototype event in Chaldea and Hakuno was highly involved?" 
> 
> Hope you all stick around for the ride. Hit me up on tumblr, @Kinggpaganmin if you have any questions!


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